Well Of Dimensions
by Ikazuchiru
Summary: She wasn't sure why these sort of things always happen to her. She simply jumped into the well to go home, but it warped her into another dimension. Luckily enough, she came across the Lightning Dragon and company. Now she was dealing with two things, besides protecting the jewel shards of course. How is she getting home? And why does she feel drawn to him?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Well

She sighed heavily as she brought up her fingers, pinching the tip of her nose in order to control the annoyance that was currently spreading through her as her silver haired, dog eared, half demon kept going on a rant. Something that was never out of the norm. She wasn't sure why it would always become World War III with him whenever she wanted to go home. It was always the same thing. The same old argument whenever she needed to go back for a test or for once, sleep in a comfortable bed and a bath.

She sure loved her hot baths.

As he continued with his rant, she could feel the impediment headache setting in. By this point all she could hear was _blah blah blah_.

She finally looked up at him, and his amber pools were glaring at her.

"Have you even be listening to what I'm saying?!" He yelled, clearly offended as he crossed his arms while his lip lifted in a silent snarl.

Back when she was fifteen, that look had terrified her. Three years later, it didn't do anything anymore.

She took another deep breath, "I kind of lost you when you said no."

He growled in warning to her but she ignored it as she went and grabbed her old enormous yellow bag.

"Kagome! I'm serious! You can't leave right now!"

Her voice still remained calm as she placed the strap on her shoulder, "Why Inuyasha? We've been after Naraku's tracks for a month, following a lead that Kikyo told you, but we haven't found anything. I need to go home, restock on supplies, and catch up on my school work! The entrance exam for the University of Tokyo is in two months and I have not studied!" at the last part she raised her voice, "It's a freaking miracle I'm even graduating from high school!"

He rolled his eyes, "I don't understand why you keep insisting on going to that stupid shit."

Sango and Miroku, alongside Shippo and Kirara, could see that Kagome's calm demeanor was crashing at a fast pace. The small kitsune jumped up on Miroku's shoulder and shook his head as he removed the lollipop he had been eating from his mouth with a loud 'pop.'

"That idiot will never learn."

Inuyasha growled louder as his gaze shifted to the small demon and then going back to Kagome. He saw her dark blue eyes narrowing at him. Oh yeah, he knew that look.

"Why do you keep insisting on practicing with Tetsusaiga?" she snapped back.

He gave her a look like if she was seriously stupid. Which currently, in his head, she was.

"To get stronger stupid! How else am I supposed to kill Naraku?"

Her eyebrow twitched when he called her stupid, "Sit."

His eyes widened, but before another insult could slip out of his mouth, he crashed face first onto the ground. She lowered herself and she spoke to him like if he was a child. Slow and clear.

"Look. In my time, slaying demons isn't a profession. I have to get an education to make a living. I'm turning eighteen in a freaking month and _that_ is an adult in my time!"

She got up, took a deep breath, and fixed the strap of her backpack, "Now, for calling me stupid, I will be gone for a week."

He immediately raised his head from the ground, "What the fu-"

"Sit."

His cursed was instantly muffled again. She sighed again as she made her way to the well, leaving Kaede's hut. Sango shook her head at Inuyasha's body and started to follow Kagome. Shippo looked at Inuyasha as well and the form of Kagome leaving, and he immediately opted out with going with the women. He knew if he stayed, Inuyasha would thump him on the head for his insult at him.

Kagome was internally fuming as she stomped towards the well, unaware that Sango was trying to catch up to her.

As she finally caught up with the pissed off priestess, she spoke, "I'm sorry that he's so…"

"Egotistical? Rude? Inconsiderate? Selfish? Moronic?"

Sango's eyes widened and nodded her head with a small laugh, "Yes. All of the above."

"Are you really gonna be gone for a week Kagome?" Shippo's high pitch voice cut in as he landed on Sango's shoulder.

They finally reached the well and Kagome removed the backpack from her back. She stretched her arms upwards and immediately could smell the dry sweat from her armpits, causing to scrunch up her nose in disgust. That bath kept sounding better and better.

"I have to catch up on my studying. I doubt it will be a week but I only said it because he pissed me off," she said with a grin on her face. Sango laughed and Shippo started to snicker.

"Serves him right! Specially after believing Kikyo!"

Sango's eyes widened slightly as she immediately looked at Kagome, expecting to see the usual sadness at the mention of the deceased priestess. But surprisingly, the black haired woman just rolled her eyes.

"He should've known better. She's unpredictable."

However, Kagome was smart. She saw the look that Sango gave her.

In all reality, she still held some feelings towards Inuyasha. It wasn't as deep and head over heels for when she had first met him. But for the past year, she had noticed her heart wasn't racing as much whenever he would do something sweet for her or the way he would sometimes hold her while they were traveling. She definitely cared deeply for him, but feelings of romance were fading away with the wind. It also had to do with his lack of attention to detail, never seeing how all the times he would run off to look for Kikyo would deeply hurt her. So many jabs to her heart like that, she was bound to not have feelings for him eventually. At least not romantic ones.

"Well, I gotta get going," she suddenly said, "I leave right now and I will be able to eat dinner with my whole family!"

Sango smiled at her, "Go ahead!" but her smile suddenly faded and she started to blush, "Would you mind bringing another one of those strange scrolls? The one with advice on fitness and the paintings of women?"

Kagome was confused for a second until it dawned on her, "Oh! Tokyo's Women's Fitness! Yeah, I can bring you another one. I take it you really enjoyed the last one?"

Sango nodded, "Some of the exercises were very helpful!"

Kagome hugged her, "Yeah I will!"

"Bring me candy!" Shippo immediately said.

She rolled her eyes playfully, "If it wasn't because demons don't get cavities I would never bring you as much candy as I have all this time," she grinned at Sango, " I'll also bring some treats for Kirara while I'm at it."

And with that, she went up to the well, put one leg over the edge and then the other, and jumped. And like any other time, she was engulfed in a bright blue light.

But little did she know, she wouldn't be getting home in time for dinner.

* * *

He rolled his eyes, probably for the hundredth time that day. He loved his team, he really did, and he had missed them greatly for the months that he was gone, but their persistent chatter for him to ask to be let back into the guild was getting old. He knew his grandfather. He was a stubborn son of a bitch. Something he was sure it ran on the Dreyar bloodline. He was set on his decision and had no plans on going back on his word. Which he respected. At the end of the day, what he did was wrong and a lot of people would've gotten hurt if the Thunder Palace hadn't been destroyed, even if his intentions had been good.

And he learned his lesson. Traveling from different parts of the country and even visiting new ones gave him a whole new perspective on everything. More importantly, he started to miss the guild. Yeah, there were a bunch of idiots. Filled with drunks, perverts, destructive idiots, but it was a good guild. A family.

A dysfunctional, but a family nonetheless.

Freed could feel his irritation, "Well if you don't want to do that, why don't you come and crash at my place?"

Bickslow immediately shook his head, putting an arm around a not so happy blonde, "Nah man, if he's staying with anyone it's me! Just like back in the day after a good time at the bar!"

The only female in the group smacked the seith mage with her fan, "Your apartment is too small and a mess! If anything he could stay with me. I have an extra bedroom after all."

Laxus thought about it for a moment. Freed was his best friend, but the man could be a little controlling and nosy. He would be constantly asking him what he was doing. Evergreen was right about Bicks. He saw him as his partner in crime, but the apartment was disgusting. He had only stayed there while he was drunk because he had been too drunk to even care.

Bickslow immediately made a face, "But then he would hear you and Elfman fucking and _that_ would scar him for life."

The busty brunette stopped walking and screeched loudly, "NOTHING IS HAPPENING BETWEEN US!"

Laxus immediately pushed that option out of his head.

He sighed, "I made a perfectly good camp. It has a well with clean water. Besides, it's not like I'm going to stay for long anyways."

His three friends looked at one another, but for once, they didn't bother to tell him otherwise.

They continued walking through the woods, sparred a little bit for old times sake, which unfortunately, caught the attention of Natsu and Gajeel.

And one thing led to another, and now Laxus had to fight them the following day. It's not that he was concerned about them, he just wanted to have his last days in Magnolia to be peaceful so he could remember the old times. Now he had to be careful to not kill them during their match. The last thing he wanted was the old geezer to be more mad at him and he definitely did not want to deal with Mirajane and Erza if he accidentally killed the morons.

However, it was always good to add in a good workout before a long trip.

They got back to his camp and immediately sat down. As he reached for his canteen, he realized he was out of water. Bickslow noticed and extended his hand.

"I got it man. Wouldn't want you harming yourself from getting water when tomorrow you have a fight."

Laxus gave him a glare, "How the fuck have I put up with you for so long?"

Evergreen sighed as she fanned herself with a shook of her head, "We keep asking ourselves that on a daily."

Bickslow pretended to be hurt by their words but laughed anyways. As he neared the well, he suddenly started to hear splashing. He stopped and raised his eyebrow as he called to the group, "Hey boss, are fishes supposed to live on wells where people drink water from?"

Laxus had finally laid down when he heard him. He got up and started to mumble to himself, "For the love of fucking God…"

He got to where Bickslow was and sure enough, they could hear the splashing. However, thanks to his heightened hearing, he could hear shallow gasps of air.

 _What the hell?_ He thought as he decided to check inside the well. Before he could look, the splashing stopped, making it more suspicious. He placed his large hands at the edge made out of stone and leaned over.

What he saw, made his eyes widened.

There was a woman with long black hair, and she was sinking as she was unconscious. He didn't think twice, and ignoring Bickslow's question on what the hell he was doing, he jumped in, careful to not land on top of her. He took a hold of her waist and surfaced back up with a gasp. Using his other hand, he removed the dark bangs out of her face, but her eyes were closed and she wasn't responding to him softly patting her cheek.

"GET ME A FUCKING ROPE RIGHT NOW!"

The loud command immediately made all three of them to move. Bickslow went back to the camp and grabbed one out of the backpack that was there. Freed and Ever ran to the well and the woman gasped.

Bickslow came back and immediately threw the rope in. Laxus got a hold of it and he pulled himself and the body of the woman out of the well. Freed and Bickslow assisted for him to come out while Ever helped him with the woman the moment they made it to the top. Freed let go of the rope and finished pulling her out with Evergreen as Laxus jumped out. He got on his knees and put his ear by her heart and nose.

Nothing.

He placed his large hands on her chest and started pumping it. He then closed her nose with his fingers and breathed in air through her mouth, and then repeated the process.

"Evergreen, go to the guild and get Wendy! We are going to need her," Freed said as he brought a blanket with him from Laxus' tent. However, before the woman could soar through the air to the guild, Laxus interrupted.

"Freed, you go. If this works and she wakes up, she's going to freak being surrounded by three men."

And so his best friend left. Laxus continued pushing her chest and it wasn't until he breathed in air through her mouth that he finally heard the water making its way up her throat. He helped her sit up as her eyes shot open and she puked all the water that she had digested. Her lips were blue and her creamy skin finally started to have some color again.

"Breathe calmly," he told her as she was shaking, trying to breathe normal again, "You're okay, you're safe now."

Her tired disoriented dark blue eyes turned to look at him, her dark eyelashes fluttering as she tried keeping her vision under control.

"...W...h..o…"

He knew what was coming then. He saw her eyes roll back and her body go limp, but he caught her before she would land on the hard ground. He turned to look at Ever.

"Mind sparing your other bedroom?"

The woman nodded, "Of course!"

He looked at Bickslow, who sure enough was already packing Laxus' things, "Find Freed and have him and Wendy meet us at Evergreen's place."

Bickslow immediately left. However the woman was worried as she looked at the wet girl, "You can't teleport to my house with her being wet. We don't know how she would react to your lightning while being soaked."

He gave her a look, "Then what am I supposed to do? I don't particularly carry women's clothes with me because I know I'm about to rescue them from drowning on a well."

She ignored his snappy attitude and rolled her eyes, "No, but you have that ridiculous long coat of yours. Let me undress her and then we can go."

He bit back what he was going to say. In his standards, it wasn't ridiculous.

He carried the woman to the tent and then left her and Evergreen to do their thing. A few minutes later, she opened up the tent to reveal the woman wearing Laxus' coat while using a rope to tie it around the middle to secure it. She had used the blanket that had been placed under her body when Laxus brought her out to dry her hair as much as she could.

He gently picked her up and immediately teleported. He knew with Evergreen using her wings she would be at her place within just a few minutes. Thankfully he knew where she kept her spare key and quickly opened the door. He avoided the room that funny enough, reeked like Elfman and her, and went to the other room that already had the door open and set the woman on the bed. He then noticed that she was starting to have a deep blush on her face, and when he carefully placed his hand on her forehead, under her bangs, he silently cursed as she was developing a fever.

He would always thank the heavens that little Wendy had healing magic. Who he could hear from the hallway alongside…

"Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me," He grumbled as he stomped out of the room and closed the door, just as they were coming in.

He glared at Freed, "I told you to bring _her_ , not the whole cheerleading squad."

"We are not cheerleaders!" Natsu defensively said.

"Lucy cosplayed as one!" Bickslow said with a grin.

 _Cosplay! Cosplay!_

Erza ignored the animosity in his voice, "Freed said someone needed Wendy's help."

His glare didn't lessen, "And that was an invitation for all of you to come?" He didn't wait for a response as he looked at Wendy, "Come with me. She's in here."

Only Gray and Erza took notice that his voice was a bit more gentle when he addressed Wendy. The small bluenette nodded, slightly intimidated by the large man, but followed him. He opened the door and had her come in. But the glare was back on his face as he looked at them, "Ever is going to be here soon and she's going to flip shit seeing all of you here," his eyes turned lower to the ground, "You can stay, uh…"

"Carla," the white exceed said as she crossed her arms and walked to go inside the room. He nodded as he opened the door again, "Right," his head turned to the others, "The rest of you get the fuck out."

He didn't wait for a reply as he went inside the room and closed the door.

" _I wonder who's the girl that's in there?"_

" _I don't know Lucy, but it must've been pretty serious to have Wendy come."_

" _Gray, where are your clothes?"_

" _Why do I smell Elfman here?"_

" _You all should leave before she's here. Don't worry, Wendy will be safe with us!"_

The door closed.

" _Did Natsu just say it smells like Elfman here?"_

" _Don't mention it to her or she will permanently remove your lower body parts."_

Laxus snorted at the last part and shook his head. He removed himself from the door and walked up to Wendy, whose hands were glowing a soft blue as she had them over the body of the girl.

Carla still had her arms crossed as she looked at Laxus, "Where did you find her?"

He took in the superiority like voice from the cat, but surprisingly he didn't mind it. As long as she or the black cat that hung around Gajeel didn't act like Happy, he didn't have an issue.

"Bickslow heard something inside the well by my camp in the forest. I looked over and there she was, drowning."

Carla furrowed her eyebrows, "Was she trying to kill herself?"

He shook his head, "By the sound of splashing I heard, it didn't sound intentional," he focused his attention to the blue haired girl, "How is she?"

The glow disappeared from her hands and turned to look up at him, a small smile on her face, "She just needs to rest now. Give it a day, maybe two for her to wake up. I was able to get rid of the fever, she just needs to replenish her own strength. It'll be best to keep her in the cloak since it'll keep her warm enough until she awakens."

Laxus nodded as he took in all the information, "Thanks. If there's anything I could do for you, let me know."

The small girl immediately blushed and shook her head furiously while waving her hands in front of her, "Oh no! It's okay! I'm happy I was able to help."

"Are you going to tell your grandfather about her?" Carla cut in.

He grunted, "Probably. Once the girl wakes up and we figure this out. She's going to need a place to stay for the meanwhile. He'll help her."

Carla suspiciously looked at him, "You sound like you're washing your hands about this."

He put his hands in his pockets, "I'm leaving soon. She won't be my responsibility then."

Wendy's chocolate brown eyes were shining with disappointment, "So you're not going to stay?"

He hated the look she was giving him. He always didn't do well with disappointed kids, specially girls. It didn't help that Wendy was a sweet girl. Shy, but sweet. She had tended to his wounds after the battle of Hades and had welcomed him back, charming him with her sweet smile. He saw the potential in her. Once she was older there was a possibility of her being deadly.

"Once I know the girl is fine I'll be leaving. Come, I'm sure Ever has some tea or some shit in the kitchen."

Carla gave him a look at his brash vocabulary and Wendy giggled, not even caring. As they were walking out of the room, that's when Evergreen arrived with some of his things. He gave her a look and she rolled her eyes.

"You can crash on the couch for the meanwhile," her eyes moved to Wendy and Carla and she smiled, "Oh you're here! How did it go?"

Wendy shyly smiled back, "She should be awake in a day or two."

Freed then came in alongside Bickslow with the rest of the things they left at the camp. As Evergreen left to the kitchen with the young girl and the exceed, Bickslow went up to him.

"I found this by the well. I'm sure it was hers since it seemed to be tied around a neck cause of the string."

And in his palm, it was a tiny flask with four pieces of a jewel, a pink soft glow coming from them. Laxus grabbed the bottle carefully and brought it up to inspect it closer. He could feel a strange but powerful magic coming out of the jewels, which seemed to be broken and part of something bigger. His head was swarmed with questions as his eyes went towards the closed bedroom door.

Who was this girl?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Dragon

When she finally woke up, she realized a numerous of things. The first one, she was in a bedroom that was not hers. Two, she was wrapped inside something comfortable that had fur and she was _naked_ under it. Three, whatever she was wrapped in, the smell was intoxicating. Not in a horrible way. It was kind of earthy, spicy, and musky. She's never smelled anything like it and she really liked it. Four, as her groggy eyes adjusted to her surroundings, they suddenly widened as her hand shot to her neck.

The shards were gone.

Panic set in and as she tried to get up, whatever she was wrapped with, was a little too long for her and the moment she made the move from the bed, she landed face first.

* * *

He was trying to get comfortable on the couch as it was two feet too small for his 6'3 frame. He could hear Evergreen, Wendy, and Carla snoring softly from Evergreen's bedroom. He had asked Wendy to spend the night in case something got complicated with the woman, who looked to be around Juvia's age, but that was just a guess.

He groaned and grabbed the pillow and put it over his face, in attempt to fall asleep. Now he was _really_ glad that he had that fight with Natsu and Gajeel. Why did he have to find some random woman drowning in a well when he was planning on leaving soon?

He heard the girl waking up, which was rather unusual since Wendy said it would take an entire day, at the most two, to wake up again.

But when he heard the loud thud in the room, he got up and rushed in through the door. He didn't think twice as he immediately went to aid her, but when he helped her get up, the coat came undone, as it slipped from her shoulder and almost revealing her breast. Kagome had frozen when she heard the footsteps and when she felt strong arms picking her up. That's when she came eye to eye with a man, a handsome man, with a lightning shaped scar on his face and the most unusual gray eye color. She saw his eyes lowering and that's when she noticed she was about to be exposed.

She had sparred multiple times with Sango and Miroku because she was tired of being kidnapped all the time. It seemed, that this was one of those times, and she could put her training to the test. Her right arm was free and with impressive form, she right hooked him right on the face and screamed. Loudly.

Laxus immediately let her go with a groan as his hand went to his face. She was probably just 5'3, and she packed a good ass punch.

And that's when the girls rushed in. Evergreen saw the distraught look on the woman and quickly pushed Laxus out of the room. Kagome stopped screaming finally, but she was still terrified as she could feel a strong aura of dragon traits from him and the small blue haired girl.

Wendy raised her hands in defense, "It's okay! We are not going to hurt you!" She hoped her voice could calm her down.

Kagome ignored the gentle look from the girl. She had fallen for that too many times.

"Where am I? Where are my clothes? and WHERE ARE MY JEWEL SHARDS?!"

"Holy shit she's hot!"

Kagome's eyes widened again as she saw another man running in. She gripped the coat tighter around her.

"For fuck's sake Bickslow!" the blonde man shouted. She then saw the same muscular arm that had picked her up grabbing the blue haired man by the shirt and pulling him out of the room.

" _Boss I was gonna give her the little bottle!"_

Kagome looked at all of them and glared, "Give it to me, _now!"_

Wendy hesitated for a moment, but she left the room and got the tiny flask from Bickslow and walked right in.

"This?" she cautiously asked. Carla, who had been on her shoulder the whole time, interjected.

"Child we don't know what that is! Could be dangerous!"

Kagome almost snapped at the white cat for refusing to give it. She couldn't risk losing the shards again. She looked at the two women carefully. If they wanted to harm her, they would've done so already. She remembered that she had been underwater and after that, her mind was blank. They must've helped her so they couldn't be _that_ bad.

Or at least she hoped.

"How about this," she carefully said, her dark blue eyes barely containing the fury of being separated from her shards, "If you give me the flask, I'll be able to feel that I can trust you. But only if you give it to me."

And that's when the blonde came in, with a shirt on this time, and grabbed the flask from the blue haired girl.

"Answer me this," he said slowly as he analyze her with his eyes, "Is this thing dangerous?"

For a moment, she was reminded of Sesshomaru. Probably the height and the glare in his face. He probably wasn't happy about the punch either. She straightened her back and said, "Only on the wrong hands. Now give it to me _dragon_."

He raised an eyebrow and he threw the flask at her. She quickly caught it and brought it to her chest, a pure look of relief and content spreading. Her reaction didn't go unnoticed by the others. She sat down on the bed after she placed the shards around her neck again, her left hand gripping the bottle tightly.

Evergreen sighed, happy that the intense moment was gone. She turned to Laxus again, "I'm gonna go and get her some clothes from my room. Go wait in the living room. Wendy and Carla will stay here with her."

He rolled his eyes at her bossy attitude. He threw a look at the raven haired woman and did as he was told. Once Kagome was alone with the blue haired girl and the white cat, she curiously looked at them.

"Since when do dragons socialize with cat demons?"

Carla looked offended, "Excuse me?"

Wendy shook her head, "She's not a demon, she's an exceed."

Kagome's heart stopped for a second at the word. On her almost three years of traveling back and forth she had _never_ heard such a word. The little voice in the back of her head started to panic and so did she.

So she asked the one question she asked long ago.

"W-where am I?"

* * *

Laxus was trying his best to not touch his cheek, which was currently sore, as Evergreen went inside the room with a set of clothes. Because if he touched his cheek in front of Bickslow, the seith mage would _never_ live it down.

"She got you good boss," he snickered as his babies flew around him and giggled.

Laxus' eye twitched, very tempted to zap him back to his apartment. Which hilariously enough, he lived right across from her and Freed to her right.

"One more word comes out of your mouth and I swear to fucking God I will zap you so bad you won't even be able to shower for a year."

That shut him up quickly. Freed shook his head and looked at his best friend, "She almost seemed hysterical asking for the flask. Not even worried about her own self, but what it was inside it."

He grunted, "Yeah I know."

And just then, Wendy stepped out with a very concerned look on her face.

"Um guys," Laxus was the first one up and went to her, "What is it?"

She was biting her lip, as her small face changed into worry and confusion, "You may want to come in…"

They all followed her in, to see the mysterious woman now dressed in pajama shorts and a black t shirt, holding her legs to herself on the bed. Laxus could smell the tears from where he stood. The anxiety was rolling off of her in waves too. He decided to keep his distance, not wanting to freak her out again.

Ever looked at the young woman as she rose her head, her eyes bloodshot from her crying, and then to them, "This is Bickslow, Freed, and the one you punched is Laxus. Guys, this is Kagome, she turns eighteen in a month, and she's from earth."

The room was quiet until the silence was broke the moment Bickslow started laugh, "Well, we _are_ in Earthland!"

And long and behold, Laxus punched him on the back of the head, "She said Earth you idiot, not Earthland."

Freed looked at Carla, "So like Edolas?"

The exceed shook her head, "Edolas was an alternative universe to ours, a mirror image. The way she explained it, it's an entire different world. Probably universe."

Wendy nodded, "She said there are demons there too!"

Freed looked concerned, "Demons? Like the book of Zeref demons?"

Wendy looked confused for a moment until she looked at Kagome, "What kinds of demons?"

She swallowed as she tried thinking how to explain it.

"The demons of where I'm from… or more like, where I would travel to, take into two forms. Either animal affiliation or just humanoid looking. Animal type demons, the stronger ones at least, can take a human like form."

Wendy tilted her head, "Is that why you called me and Laxus dragons?"

The woman started to blush as she could feel the heated gaze of the blonde, "I can sense auras. I've been around a dragon from my time," She shuddered at the memory, "Your traits are very similar to his."

Freed looked beyond intrigued, "How do you sense auras?"

A sour look appeared on her her face but quickly faded away, "It's kind of a long story…"

Laxus surprised everyone as he went to lean against the wall by the door and slid down. He gave them a look, "I doubt we are going to sleep anytime soon. Might as well learn more on where she's from."

Wendy didn't look convinced, "Are you sure? I mean you have that fight later today."

She blushed when Freed, Bickslow and Ever laughed.

"Oh hon," the brunette said, "He'll be fine, trust me."

Laxus then pointedly looked at the woman, "So? You going to continue?"

She bit back the retort at the way he said it but held back, "Well… oh Kami I don't even know where to begin. Just try to follow along. Around the year 1100, demons roamed my planet, more specifically, in the country I was born in, Japan. There was always a war between humans and demons, so if some of them were to have a romantic relationship, it was frowned upon. Half demons were abused an outcasted by both demons and humans. However, an extremely powerful dog demon general fell in love with a human woman. He already had a son with his arranged mate, to be the heir of their kingdom. But this baby, he was made out of love. The General died the night his second son was born. His mother was able to stay in her village, but once the child grew bigger, people didn't want to be around him," she saw the intrigued and confused looks, "The story is going to come together soon. Just bare with me. The mother got sick and eventually died. The older half brother banished his little brother and after that, throughout his whole childhood, he was outcasted by demon and human villages. The years go by when eventually he heard a rumor about a jewel. A jewel that would grant any wish. He tried taking it but the priestess protecting it was too cunning. Eventually they fell in love and he was going to become human. The day it was going to happen, both of them were deceived and turned against each other. Kikyo died because of her wounds and her body was burned with the jewel, but she pinned Inuyasha to a tree, into an eternal sleep."

Evergreen and Wendy gasped at that. "What happened then?" The bluenette inquired.

"This is where it gets confusing. Five hundred years later in modern day Japan, on my fifteenth birthday, in a well in my property of my family's shrine, a demon centipede pulled me in, putting me five hundred years in the past. Which then, it had only been fifty years after Kikyo's passing. I awoke Inuyasha from his sleep, centipede demon bit me and out of me came out the same jewel that Kikyo was burned with."

Freed looked beyond fascinated, "Reincarnation!"

Bickslow was still trying to figure out the whole thing in his head.

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm Kikyo's reincarnation. Inuyasha saved me but then he attempted to kill me to get the jewel. That didn't work and long story short, I accidentally shattered the jewel with an arrow when I was saving a village boy from a crow demon. We partnered up to look for the pieces, we made friends and we've been looking for all the pieces and have our fair share of enemies. Specially one named Naraku who's also seeking the jewel shards."

She took a deep breath after finishing.

"Were you able to ever go back home?" Carla worriedly asked her. She saw the emotions of the young woman. Her story was all true. No one could elaborate something like that and show as much emotion as she did.

Kagome smiled softly, "Yeah. For almost three years I've been going back and forth from my time to the feudal era. I had actually jumped in the well to go home for a week but I somehow turned up here."

Bickslow was _still_ trying to figure out the time frame and Laxus rolled his eyes, "Stop. You're going to hurt yourself."

Bickslow looked deeply offended.

"You mentioned a dragon earlier," Freed said, "Was it a friendly one?"

Kagome snorted, "Far from it. Ryūkotsusei had an alteration with Inuyasha's father which got him sealed. However because of the injuries, the night Inuyasha was born, his father went into battle to save him but didn't come out alive. Ryukotsusei's seal was broken and Inuyasha had to kill him to make sure he wouldn't kill humans and Inuyasha was able to make his sword, inherited from his father, stronger."

Wendy's eyes were wide, "He killed a dragon with a sword?!"

"Child from what it sounds like, this dragon could've been just as bad as Acnologia."

Kagome turned to the white cat, "Acnologia?"

Laxus grunted, "The Dragon of the Apocalypse. Thanks to that monster we were frozen in time for seven years. Just a few weeks ago we got back."

And just like that, the remainder of the night they exchanged some stories. Kagome was becoming more open and friendlier, now that she knew for sure they were not going to harm her. They explained everything regarding guilds and wizards. Laxus had never seen such fascination from _anyone_ about magic. Kagome looked beyond intrigued and kept asking them questions. It wasn't until she yawned that he decided to continue until a later time.

It was already seven in the morning.

"Why don't we bring her to your match?" Evergreen offered as they all started to get up and stretch, "She will be able to talk to your grandfather and meet everyone else."

He immediately looked at the black haired woman, "It's up to you. You can stay here if you want. I can have the old man come here."

Kagome thought about it for a moment, "No. I'll come. It'll make it easier for me to grasp a little bit around your world."

Bickslow grinned, "Oh you definitely will. You're going to be amazed when you see the boss man fight!"

 _Fight! Fight!_

She couldn't help but giggle at the flying totems as they circled around her head. Laxus found himself almost smiling at her giggle, but he mentally smacked himself.

"Get some rest. We will wake you up when it's time."

Kagome yawned again and nodded. Her body was begging for sleep that she did not paid attention when she reached on the floor, grabbed the coat, and wrapped herself with it and fell asleep on the bed.

Knowing looks appeared on the faces of his team and surprisingly Carla, which he immediately shot down with a glare. Wendy giggles softly as she left the room with all of them.

* * *

She was beyond fascinated as they walked through the streets of Magnolia. It kept reminding her of the villages she would see in books from England. The stone walls and buildings. The bridges. It was quite a bit of a large town.

Everyone seemed to be in high spirits as well. Anyone that she would accidentally make eye contact with would smile politely.

However she was still unsure of the world, and even though their first meeting wasn't the greatest, she was making sure she wasn't far from Laxus. He was authoritative and seemed to have his head set on his shoulders. There was also the fact that his aura was the strongest out of everyone that she was walking with.

They passed by a bar where a small group of men were drinking outside of. One of them caught a glimpse of her and he got the attention of the rest.

"Damn girl where did you come from!"

"Come join us!"

"Holy shit! Look at that size of ass!"

And that's all it took for Laxus to pivot and land a blow to the man's face, making him crash into the other two. He didn't even break a sweat. Subconsciously, Laxus got a hold of her wrist. Carla raised an eyebrow at the gesture but remained quiet.

"It's a good town but we still have our trash. Just stay close," he gruffly said as he threw a few glares to any man that was looking at her a little too long.

It didn't take them long to reach the park, but when they did, his eyes widened.

Somehow, word leaked about the fight and various vendors set up their shops. T shirts were being sold alongside posters. One with a flame, one with a hammer, and one with a lightning bolt.

 _How the hell did this happen in a day?_ He thought with a grimace.

Freed on the other hand seemed proud, "Although it's been seven years the people still respect you. You made your mark here."

Laxus wasn't amused, "Either that or they're a bunch of morons."

Kagome took notice how a lot of people looked at him. Some were with respect, other looks, she couldn't pinpoint.

They continued walking until they reached the clearing where the fight would happen. And long and behold, a chair was waiting for him. He immediately turned to his team, "Who's fucking idea was that?"

A slow clap was heard from behind them. When Kagome turned, her eyes widened when she saw a man, just as tall as Laxus, but with even broader shoulders, approaching them. He had a tattered black cloak on his shoulders, a bandage around his midsection leaving his entire muscular chest exposed, and baggy pants. He was grinning at Laxus and his eyes were shining with mischief.

"Shouldn't a king have a throne?" The man said with a laugh. Laxus didn't say anything, just continued to glare.

"Hello Gildarts," Wendy said politely, smiling at the man.

He quickly smiled at her, "Hello Wendy!" and just then, his attention was shifted to the small woman that was in the middle of Wendy and Laxus. She was literally a foot shorter than the lightning mage.

He grinned slyly, "Oh my, who is _this_? Never seen you around darling," he bowed, "Gildarts Clive at your service."

Kagome blushed at the display, "Kagome Higurashi."

Gildarts grin widened when Laxus carefully stepped, putting Kagome slightly behind him.

He gave Laxus a look, but decided to change the topic, "Just go easy on the kid. He's very eager to do this." And with a wink at Kagome, he walked away.

"He sounds extremely confident that you're going to win," Kagome commented, "Um, you can let go now."

Laxus looked confused, but as he looked down, he realized he had not let go of her wrist. He quickly pulled away and cleared his throat.

"Sorry," but as he was going to say something else, he caught their scent.

He sighed and just decided to wait and sit by the chair. Wendy smiled and waved, quickly going to the new group that was approaching the clearing. With a boring look on his face, he rested his chin on his hand.

Lucy immediately spotted Laxus as her, Erza, Gray, Juvia, Gajeel, Levy, Panther Lily, Happy and Natsu walked deeper into the park. Her eyes widened when she saw a gorgeous woman with thick long pitch black hair with small hints of blue on it, with a petite but curvy body standing with the Thunder Legion.

"Holy crap!" She exclaimed as Wendy neared them, "Is that the girl you checked?" She asked as she hugged the girl.

Wendy looked behind her and then turned to the others, "Her name is Kagome!"

Erza was also checking her out, "She's extremely beautiful."

"Is that what you told me about Luce?" Levy asked as she looked.

"Yup!"

Gray snorted, "She's way out of his league."

Juvia gasped at what he said, _Another love rival?!_

"Look Lucy! Another girl that's prettier than you!"

"Shut it cat!"

But Natsu and Gajeel were in their own world as they neared the man sitting down. A large circle of spectators was created and Kagome stuck with the Thunder Legion so she wouldn't get lost afterwards.

"You're about to witness the power of a Fairy Tail wizard," Bickslow said to her with a mad grin on his face. She smiled slightly since his excitement was rubbing off on her. He had a lot of confidence for Laxus. She could already feel the questioning looks from the others. Soon the questions would start and she wasn't too sure if she was ready for it.

She saw as the pink haired man took a step forward, challenging Laxus first. He had a super easy going grin and as he talked to his blue cat, he was sounding _too_ confident. She was reminded of Inuyasha.

As the signal was given, she shook her head.

"The pink haired one is going to lose."

Lily, who had sneaked to be right next to Evergreen to find out more about the girl heard her.

The fight hadn't even started.

"Why do you say that?"

She was surprised that such a strong voice came out of the body of the small black cat. She saw him coming in with the other challenger.

She crossed her arms as she bit her lip, "That attitude reminds me of someone. Never ends too well."

And then, she felt it. The growth of the auras from both parties as they started to charge up on their magic. Her eyes widened as the pink haired guy, Natsu, as she heard some people call him, be engulfed in flames.

Then, Laxus followed right after with his own magic. Lightning. It flickered around him and his aura seemed to grow as Natsu continued powering up.

This was nothing like she had ever seen before. It was like their elements were one with them. It was beautiful but terrifying as flames and lightning came out of their bodies like a second nature. It made her wonder how much power the wizards held. She felt glad that she had this to distract herself with. She was still suffering some shock for being in another universe after all.

Once the auras got to a certain point, that's when Lily figured out that Kagome was right. If Natsu attacked first, it was game over.

She could feel herself starting to sweat as they continued, when there was that shift of air and in an instant, Natsu was charging towards Laxus.

It ended just as fast as it started. Laxus took a tiny step to the right and knocked Natsu out with a single punch. She saw a lot of people that had the same mark as Wendy and the others, which she deemed them as part of Fairy Tail, openly gawking in pure astonishment. She was impressed too as Laxus took him out with a single move. Now she understood why so many feared or respected him from the people that were watching.

Gajeel had immediately left and that led for a search party to go find him. Some of the members had gone up to her, asking her various questions of who she was and how she knew the Thunder Legion. She was feeling overwhelmed by the amount of excitement in the crowd that she had to start taking deep breaths. She wasn't ready to be questioned by so many. Laxus was walking back to them when he noticed the look on her face. Laxus caught a glimpse of his grandfather and after a very tense short moment between them, he pushed himself through his old guild members as he thought of offering Kagome to take her to his old apartment to rest.

The one reason why he didn't want to go back there was because he didn't want to get attached to being back. But he was left in a sour mood after the look his grandfather gave him and Kagome was overwhelmed.

He lowered himself, "Do you want to leave?"

But, the moment he saw Mira of all people walking towards the raven haired girl, he didn't wait for a response as he grabbed her and teleported.

The moment they appeared in front of the apartment building in downtown Magnolia, she turned to the bushes that were next to her and puked the small breakfast Freed had made for her. Laxus winced, completely forgetting how some people could get sick on their first time teleporting. When he had taken her to Ever's, she had been unconscious.

"Sorry, but if I didn't take you away, you would've been interrogated by the noisiest demon ever."

He heard her small laugh as she finished. She wiped her mouth but then blushed with embarrassment as she turned around, "Sorry. That was super gross."

He snorted as he opened the door, "Seen worse."

They went inside the building, but Laxus was stuck with a little dilemma.

They could either take the elevator and _he_ would be the one getting sick, or he would have to make an overwhelmed universe traveling woman walk up five flights of stairs.

He went with the stairs. As they neared them, he lowered himself slightly, "Hop on. I'll carry you. I'm not gonna make you walk all five flights up."

She found herself blushing, "Why can't we take the elevator?"

He avoided eye contact, "Just get on already."

His tone left no room for argument, but she did as she was told. She carefully got on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and anchoring her legs around his waist. He positioned her better on his back, and by holding both of her thighs carefully, he started going up the stairs.

He could feel how tense she was and couldn't help but chuckle, "I'm not going to drop you. You can relax a bit."

She blushed as she had hoped he wouldn't notice. But she did. Her arms around him loosened and she found herself leaning against his back. She _really_ hated to admit it, but she couldn't fathom how muscular he was. She could feel his back muscles moving with each step. He wasn't huge like the body builders she had seen in magazines back in her world. They looked like they had been blown like helium balloons. But not him. It was just the right amount of muscles to look powerful and menacing.

It wasn't until he was half way up the stairs that he broke the silence, "I have motion sickness."

She lifted her head from his back right shoulder, "Wait— seriously?"

She blinked in confusion. She never thought someone like him would suffer something so simple.

His tone was filled with annoyance, "It's a trait that all dragon slayers share. Natsu has it the worst. Second worst it would have to be me. Then Gajeel, the bastard that ran away from the fight. His cat let it slip the other day and I happened to overhear. Wendy is the only one I know that doesn't suffer from it."

She couldn't help it. She snorted, "It is super hard to believe that someone as strong as you, which I just saw you knocking someone out with just one hit, could be defeated by a measle elevator."

He couldn't help it. He let out a booming laugh.

"It is quite ridiculous when you put it that way."

She laughed slightly at him. She could feel the anxiety that had been inside her lessening a bit.

Just a few minutes later, they finally reached the fifth floor. He carried her all the way until he got to his door and let her come down as he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a single key.

It was a decent size apartment with all around dark gray walls and very minimal dark furniture. He tossed the key on the coffee table and pointed to a door, "You can crash there. It has its own bathroom. I don't have any girl clothes but I can give you a pair of shorts and a shirt to change into while you wash your outfit," he pointedly looked at her simple jeans and blue shirt, "I can take you shopping tomorrow for you to get some clothes."

She blinked as she was taken aback by the last part. She rose an eyebrow at him as she crossed her arms, "Alright, why are you doing this? Like seriously, you hardly know me but you're giving me a spare room _with_ a shower—"

"It has a bath."

There was a long pause, "T—that's not the point! I mean, seriously. You're being really nice to me. You're opening up your home to a complete stranger. Why?"

He didn't say anything as he walked over to the kitchen and opened a cabinet, retrieving two cups and getting a hold of his coffee machine. Probably one of the major things he missed from his place. He was now glad he had paid a cleaning lady to keep his place up while the months he was gone. She had kept it up during the seven years without pay. He made a mental note to go to the bank and pay her back.

He could feel Kagome's irritation who had not moved from the spot at the entrance. She had her arms crossed and was now glaring at him.

If that was supposed to scare him, it wasn't working. He couldn't take her seriously.

They stayed like that until the machine beeped, announcing that it was ready.

He walked up to her and handed her the mug, which she carefully grabbed while still looking at him.

"I'm doing it because you literally have no place to go. You're in another universe for fucks sake. I didn't take you back to Evergreen's because it's just a matter of time that you would be scarred for life by the animal noises coming from her bedroom as her 'not boyfriend' fucks her brains out" she furiously blushed by his brash comment, "I'm the one that got you out of that well so yeah, I kind of feel responsible. Besides, I would've liked a helping hand when I was feeling lost. Now go. You reek of throw up."

He smirked smugly as she gapped at him after taking a sip of the coffee.

"The only reason I'm not punching you right now is because I'm holding this mug, which if I let go with one hand, it'll tilt over and make a mess. And it's good coffee."

He snorted as his smirk turned into a grin, "I know."

She looked at him shocked, "You gave me this mug on purpose!"

He attempted to look innocent as he sipped his coffee while walking away, "I don't know what you're talking about."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Guild

She hated to admit it, but the bedroom was simple and nice, however the bathroom had been glorious. The tiles had been a dark gray, the counter and the sink a pearl white alongside the tub. Even the towels were very fluffy. She had undressed in the bedroom and wrapped herself with a towel in case he would just barge in. She walked over to the bathroom and closed the door. She was thankful that the knobs of the tub had not been complicated either. The water had been just the right amount of hot and she noticed that he had a small bottle of lavender oil on the counter. She put a few drops of it on the tub and now she could feel herself relaxing as the scent hit her nose. She bit back the moan that wanted to slip out as she got in the tub. She submerged until the water was just barely under her nose and let herself relax as the smell of lavender filled her.

 _What am I going to do?_ She thought as she frowned, _What if I can't go back home? How would my friends react? My family? Ugh this is just too much. I miss them. I don't understand why I'm here. Do I have a purpose? I mean, I'm not that strong. Yeah I've perfected my bow and arrow skills and I can perform a shield. But other than that, I don't have that many skills. Not like the wizards here apparently._

She thought back to the people she met so far. She really felt comfortable with the Thunder Legion, Laxus, and Wendy and Carla. The Thunder Legion reminded her a lot of her friends, each of them with their own traits. Wendy was a sweetheart that reminded her of Rin and Carla reminded her of Kaede with her motherly instincts. So many of them approached her after the fight that it had been a blur. She just needed to relax and meet them properly again.

Then there was the man that had opened his home to her. She noticed some of the looks thrown at him. Why did some look angry? Or disappointed? Yeah he seemed gruff and serious at times. But he always got a glint in his eye, specially when he would annoy her.

Her face got redder and it wasn't because of the temperature of the water. She kept remembering him carrying her all five flights of stairs and not once him complaining about it. Just small talk. And then his laugh…

She abruptly sat up, shaking her head. No. She wasn't have any thoughts like _that_ with someone she just met.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, she saw on the bed a pair of gym shorts that thankfully had a string on the waist and a dark blue t shirt with a note on them.

 _Washer and dryer are behind the double doors in the kitchen. Will be back soon. There's food in the fridge._

 _\- Laxus._

She smiled softly at the gesture and quickly changed. She didn't have a brush so she did her best to untangle her long hair. She gathered the clothes she had been wearing and made her way over to the kitchen. She was thankful that she was able to get the washer to work properly. She decided to make herself a sandwich and head over to the slim bookcase that was in the living room. As she munched on on her sandwich, she picked up a book that simply said _Fiore._

 _Oh right, that's the country I'm in_ , she thought as she went over to the couch. She opened the book and started to read.

* * *

He was dreading going inside the Guild Hall. He really was. He had spent the last twenty minutes trying to avoid going in, but he knew he had no other choice. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to think that he was going in to beg to be let back in. He put his hands in his pockets and mentally thought fuck it and went right in.

Heads were turned the moment he came in, and the one person he did not want to explain anything to, walked right up to him.

"Laxus!" Mirajane chirped as she balanced a tray with a few beers, "Where is the girl?"

He refrained from rolling his eyes, "Somewhere. Where's the old man?"

"He left with Gildarts. He should be back soon though. Did you need something?"

He thought about it for a moment, "What's a good store to buy girl clothes at?"

She gave him a confused look but that's when Erza walked up, "Is the girl better?"

Mira looked between them, "What's going on?"

He sighed, "I found her inside a well drowning. Wendy helped her. She's fine. She just needs some clothes her size."

Wendy was passing by, "Hey Laxus! Is Kagome doing okay? I noticed she seemed overwhelmed after the whole thing."

He patted her hair and gave her a small smile. Probably one of the few that he didn't mind at all asking questions, "Yeah she's good."

And to his damn luck, Lucy walked up.

"I couldn't help but listen—"

"Nothing new," was his dry reply as he gave her a deadpan look.

She ignored him, "I know of a store. It's pretty decently prized."

His eyebrows furrowed as he thought about it, "I'll bring her over tomorrow so you can come along. I don't know shit about women's clothes."

Mira smirked, "Rumor says you just shred them."

Wendy had never blushed so hard in her life. He noticed and immediately ran a hand through his face in frustration at the demon.

He could feel Erza's terrifying gaze, "She's not going to be alone with me at my place," he snapped at the red head and then his attention turned to the she devil, "Get the crazy ideas out of your head."

Erza crossed her arms, "Who else is going to be there? A woman should never be left alone with another man!"

Mira giggled as she started to walk away, "Natsu sleeps on Lucy's bed."

He ignored Lucy's stuttering and her blush as she tried explaining to Erza. He _could_ have Wendy stay but he was sure they would have his ass on a silver platter if he did. That's when his eyes settled on probably one of the few sane from the female population from the guild as she was walking by.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and brought her in, "Levy will be there."

And without another word, he grabbed the confused script mage by her shoulder and pushed her out of the guild.

* * *

"Ok, what's going on? You've hardly talked to me since we were kids," she said she she crossed her arms as he continued to lead her away.

He looked down at her, "Really? I hadn't noticed."

"Well you also almost fried me."

He stopped pushing her and blinked twice at her as he tried to remember. Then familiarization of what he had done came to him.

"Right. Until your boyfriend stepped in."

He took notice that a lot of the women around him could blush really bad. So far, Levy was the worst.

The blunette shook her head madly, "He's not my boyfriend!"

"Right," he said, clearly not convinced as he continued to walk, "And Ever isn't fucking Elfman."

A silent pause, "No way!"

"Way. Anyways. I'm sure you saw the girl with my team before your boyfriend," he really was enjoying messing with her, "Decided to take off. She's at my place and I really don't want anyone to think the wrong idea. Besides, we may need your knowledge with books."

She couldn't help but realize that he really had changed. One, the old Laxus couldn't have cared less for a woman that clearly needed help. He was charming when he needed to be, but never just because of the hell of it. The second? He had never once paid attention or commented on her love for books and research.

"What's going on?" She asked once the embarrassment faded away. And so for the rest of the walk, after they went to her place to get some stuff, he told her everything he knew so far.

Levy was beyond fascinated about the fact that there _was_ more out there. A world where magic isn't known but technology is advanced. She had various questions for her but she also knew she needed to help her. Laxus had asked, in his own way, if she could help research something to help the girl out.

She was more than happy to do so.

She followed Laxus inside the building and went up the stairs again. It wasn't until half way that he heard her heavy breathing that he gave her a piggyback ride. As they reached the fifth floor and he let her down, she had a known smirk in her face.

"Motion sickness huh?"

He glared at her as he walked to his door, and just as he opened the door to his apartment, the smell of stew filled the air. His eyebrows furrowed as he wasn't expecting her to do anything like that. However, he bit back the laugh that wanted to come out.

Kagome had her back to them and she was dancing. She had found his old sound pod. Somehow figured out how it worked and now she was dancing while cooking.

She was really comfortable in his place from what it seemed like. There was something particular about seeing her in _his_ clothes that were obviously a bit too big on her. Maybe because it was the first time he had ever seen a woman in his clothes.

He also took notice of the Fiore book on the couch.

Just then, Kagome turned and that's when she noticed Laxus in the doorway with a very amused look on his face with a very pretty petite woman. She 'eeped' loudly.

"You scared me!" She exclaimed at him. He rolled his eyes and then pointed at Levy.

"Kagome, Levy. Levy, Kagome. She's going to be staying here to keep you company because the last thing I need is being threatened by a sword or a she devil. She has a knack for books so if anyone is going to find how to get you back, it's her. She's also the metal heads girlfriend. Don't know if you saw him before he took off with his tail between his legs."

Levy had been pleasantly smiling at Kagome until Laxus said the last part. She whirled around and shouted as she blushed, "For the last time, I'm not his girlfriend!"

He gave her a bored look until his attention was brought back to whatever kind of stew Kagome cooked. In a few strides, he was already in the kitchen lifting the lid off the pot sniffing.

Kagome suppressed a laugh. It seemed that dog demons weren't the only ones with a heightened sense of smell. She served all three of them a bowl and sat at the table. Soon enough, the two girls made quick conversation while Laxus was focused on his food.

 _Damn this is good_ , he thought as he had a first taste.

Levy couldn't believe some of the stuff Kagome was saying. From both her home and the Feudal Era. However she could see how worried the raven haired woman was.

"The guild has more of an extensive library," Levy said excitedly, "I brought some books with me but tomorrow we can head there and check it out!"

The excitement of the girl rubbed off on Kagome, as she gratefully nodded, "That would be perfect!"

Mid way during their dinner, Laxus turned to the door. He seemed focused and Kagome saw the moment his face went from stoic, confused, dry, and then irritated.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me…" he said under his breath as he got up. He swung the door open and snapped at the person in the other side.

"The hell you want? You're either here for the match or to retrieve your girlfriend. If it's for the first part, it's your lucky day since I have the urge to hit something. If it's the second one… well I guess it's your lucky day too."

Kagome immediately noticed the furious blush on Levy's face when a gruff voice was heard from the doorway.

"Why the hell did you drag Levy over here?"

Laxus smirked at that, "Aw. Isn't that cute?"

Levy immediately got up because the last thing she wanted was for the two of them to go at it inside the apartment and destroy the building. She walked straight under his arm and got in the middle of them. She was really surprised to see Gajeel and Lily there.

"What are you guys doing here?" She inquired. Lily hopped on her arms, "Mira mentioned he dragged you here. We wanted to make sure you were okay."

Laxus and Gajeel were currently in a glaring contest. She sighed and looked down at Lily.

"I'm okay. He just asked for my help to stay here for a few days."

Gajeel's glare intensified and Laxus smirked at that. He was really enjoying this. He was about to say a really crude comment when Kagome's voice cut in from behind him.

"Hi! I'm Kagome. I don't think we've met yet. I come from another world. Would you guys want a bowl?"

Laxus eyebrow rose dramatically as he moved to the side of the doorway to give a full view of Kagome to his unexpected guests.

"Straight to the fucking point huh?" He dryly asked her. She didn't bat an eye as she responded, "It's rude to not invite guests in," she smiled at them, "There's plenty of food. I can serve you guys a bowl."

Gajeel was beyond confused on the strange woman's quirky personality. But once seeing the look on Laxus' face, he was in to annoy him further.

He had gone back to the guild to get some food before going back to his training and that's when he heard both Lucy and Mira mentioning Laxus taking Levy. Lily noticed that Mira had purposely raised her voice so Gajeel could hear. And it worked.

He left the guild. Without his food.

So he walked in and made himself comfortable, right on the chair Laxus had previously been sitting. After Kagome served Gajeel a bowl, Lily spoke up.

"So you're really from another world?"

"How the hell did you get mixed up with _him_?" Gajeel asked between bites.

Kagome's eyes wandered to the annoyed lightning dragon who came back to the table and kept eating his food.

Old Laxus would've dragged Gajeel out of his apartment with no questions asked.

He inwardly groaned as his eyes shifted to the black haired beauty across from him as she retold her story. She was definitely becoming comfortable even though it had been a day.

However, there was a slight tinge of sadness in her dark blue eyes. At times her smile seemed force as well. The girl was definitely a wreck on the inside.

Gajeel left after a couple of hours and after finishing almost all of the whole stew, much to Laxus' displeasure. He gave Levy a pointed look, that if something happened to let him know. The bluenette had bid him and Lily goodnight.

"Isn't that adorable," Laxus sarcastically said as she closed the door. Her face flushed in both annoyance and embarrassment again and quickly retreated to the room she would be sharing with Kagome.

"You're unbelievable!"

Leaving Kagome and Laxus alone.

He chuckled. He was enjoying picking on her a little too much. He got up and went over to his couch, where he jumped over and immediately laid down, putting his arms behind his head. From her spot, she could see his profile.

 _He looks so… calm_ , she couldn't help but think.

He really reminded her of Sesshomaru. A more of an asshole version of the demon lord. She shook her head and she gathered her plate, Laxus', and the one Gajeel used. Levy had put hers on the sink before leaving.

She placed them gently on the sink and turned on the faucet. She turned around to find the sound pods again but she bumped onto Laxus' chest, making her jump.

She didn't even feel him move.

She glared at him as she placed a hand on her chest, "You're asking to get punched again."

He ignored her. He studied her as he crossed his arms and leaned forward. She blinked as she suddenly was nervous since she was trapped between the counter and him.

"Why are you doing this?" His tone held curiosity as he looked in her eyes.

She was confused, "What you mean?"

"The cooking. Now the cleaning. Why?"

She bit her lip as she looked down, her fingers fumbling with the rag she had on her hands. Laxus' eyes widened when the scent of tears hit him.

She sniffed, "I just… I just feel it's best for me to be kept busy… if I'm not doing something, I'm just going to be thinking about my friends… and my family… and wondering if I'll ever see them again… I'm familiar with this feeling but… I don't know if I'll be able to go home..."

He really hated seeing girls cry. Back in the day, in his younger-not-asshole days, he had helped Lisanna, Levy, Mira, and Cana in a few occasions. Scraped knee, not finishing a job, getting dumped. The hardest one had been Mira after Lisanna was "dead." She had broken down one time really badly in front of him.

And then his father was exiled from the guild and he turned into an A Class Asshole. That was just putting it lightly.

But now, here stood a woman who was in a huge predicament in a whole other world. After being gone from the guild for months and just recently being back, his douchebag attitude wasn't as big as it used to be.

He sighed as he took the rag from her hands and pulled her. She let out a sob against his chest as she wrapped her arms around him, finding comfort in his strong persona. He could feel her shaking and he did the only thing he could. He held her. Because there was nothing else he could do or say. He wasn't 100% that she would go home soon. The poor girl needed support and he would make sure she would have that with the guild. She already became fast friends with Ever, Wendy, and Levy. She would meet Lucy the following day and that woman had the knack of making everyone feel welcomed.

Yeah, she would be in good hands once he left.

After a couple of minutes of her crying, she finally stopped and stepped away. She could see the wetness of her tears in his black fitted shirt.

"I'm sorry," she softly said as she tried cleaning her face.

He reached with his hand as the last tear fell, wiping it away, "It's fine."

They stayed in silence until she looked up at him curiously, "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

She glared, "I'm serious."

He smirked, "Fine. What?"

"How come I haven't seen your emblem? Everyone has it on full display except you," She then blushed, "Or do you have it somewhere not visible? I saw you without a shirt and I didn't see it..."

The smirk on his face disappeared and he sighed. He had been wondering when she would ask.

"If we count the time we were stuck in Tenrou, seven years ago my grandfather kicked me out of the guild. I was an idiot and put a lot of people in danger, townsfolk and guildmates. It used to be on my left rib cage, connecting the rest of my tattoo."

Her eyes widened, "Is that why you were camping out in the forest?"

He didn't say anything, just nodded. Now it made sense some of the looks she had noticed.

She felt bad for bringing up such a sensitive topic. He had comforted her, or more like he was a shoulder to lean on, and yet she had to go ruin it.

But then an idea came to her head.

"The way that I've always seen it," she said carefully as she looked up at him, "Things happen for a reason. Those reasons become lessons, and from those lessons comes out of something good. You saved your friends fighting that guy, but you also saved me. If you hadn't been camping out there, I would've died. So, thank you for that."

She grinned at him and then went to the bedroom. He stood dumbfounded for a second, until he realize he had the cleaning rag and the dishes were on the sink.

 _Goddammit_.

* * *

As the three of them made their way to the guild, they ended up meeting with the Thunder Legion on their way there. Evergreen immediately gave Kagome a hug and asked her the normal questions. She grabbed Kagome alongside Levy, who was surprised since she was never close to her in the first place, and the three of them walked in front of the men.

Laxus rolled his eyes as he heard some of the stuff Evergreen was asking. Freed cleared his throat, "So how's it going with having her at your place?"

He scoffed, "She made dinner, had Gajeel come in and fed him. She cleaned. And had a meltdown about the situation. She also found out I got kicked out."

Freed blinked. That was quite a bit for just one night.

Bickslow was looking at her, "You sure you want to leave?"

Laxus' eyebrow twitched with annoyance. _Not this shit again,_ he thought grumpily.

"She's officially meeting everyone today. She can stay at my place for as long as she needs while I'm gone."

And as they entered the guild, it was a full house, with the exception of Natsu, Gray, Wendy, their exceeds, and Lucy.

 _I told her to be here_ , he irritably thought. Everyone was gathered by the small bar where Makarov stood.

"After much consideration, I have finally decided to retire as Fairy Tail's Master," Makarov said. He let his children shout their questions with a calm expression. Freed looked at Laxus but the man wasn't showing any emotion.

Kagome noticed a middle aged man clearing his throat as he fixed his coat, "It is an honor."

But the man next to him started to laugh, "He's definitely not talking about you man."

"Without further ado," Makarov continued, "I present to you Fairy Tail's 5th Master, Gildarts Clive!"

Kagome was confused because of where the small old man was pointing, there was the woman with white hair she had seen the previous day.

She paid attention to everyone as the Master read the letter Gildarts left and she could see the tight knit family Evergreen, Wendy, and Levy mentioned. She noticed the red head woman curiously looking at her and she smiled shyly. To her surprise, the intimidating woman returned the smile.

"First," Makarov continued to read, "I officially reinstate Laxus as a member of Fairy Tail," the older man gripped the letter tighter.

Many people around her gasped and the Thunder Legion cheered, but as she looked up to see his face, his gray eyes were wide in shock.

 _Gildarts_ … Laxus thought as he tried thinking of what that meant.

He could _stay_.

Bickslow threw an arm around him, "Alright man!"

Evergreen grabbed his arm, "Thunder Legion is officially back together!"

Laxus' usual scowl was gone as he stuttered, "I.. umm…"

Kagome almost laughed when she saw Freed crying. When they finally let him go, she poked his arm. The confusion was still there as he looked at her.

She smiled, "Congratulations."

 _At least one of us returned home,_ she sadly thought. But she was really happy for him. The guild meant a lot to him.

Laxus tuned out everything else as his mind was going a at the speed of his magic. He never thought he would be a member again. Never. Maybe how Kagome said last night, things happened for a reason. He didn't feel as the same man as he was back then and he knew he was proving that. He would make sure Gildarts wouldn't feel disappointed on his decision.

Just before his grandfather could start getting drunk off his ass, he put a hand on Kagome's shoulder and led her to him.

"Old man," he said gruffly. Makarov turned around and just as a scowl appeared on his face to see his newly reinstated grandson, his eyes widened as he saw the beauty next to him. Erza had already told him some stuff but not everything. All he knew was that Laxus was taking responsibility over the girl because he helped her.

"Oh!" He exclaimed as the scowl disappeared and a friendly smile replaced it, "You're who I've been hearing about! Tell me, has this knucklehead been treating you good?"

She giggled as she could feel Laxus glaring at the small man, "Yes he has."

"There's a small office in the back, we could go there and you can tell me what's going on and how I can help."

"Actually," she said softly, "I was hoping if I could just tell everyone? I'm kind of tired of repeating everything."

A knowing look graced his features, "Alright if that's what you wish," he then cleared his throat, "Brats! Pay attention over here. There's someone you all gotta meet."

All of them stopped their chatter and turned their attention to the bar again, but their eyes immediately went to the woman they had seen with Laxus during the match.

She had been feeling confident, but now that everyone turned their eyes to her, she felt nervous. Where would she even start?

However, Laxus nudged her. She looked back at him and he motioned with his head to continue.

She swallowed, but she saw the Thunder Legion smiling at her and so was Levy. Even Gajeel was smirking at her. She had won him over with her stew. She took a deep breath and started. She told everyone who she was and where she came from. She left a few things out, such as the gravity of the jewel's powers or what she could really do. Unless it was necessary, she wouldn't mention anything about having purification magic.

By the end of her story, the entire guild was silenced.

"Freed, Levy," Makarov said seriously, "I need you to do as much research as you can regarding portals."

Levy raised her hand with a grin, "Actually Master, Laxus had already asked me to do it. Me and Kagome were gonna check out the guild's library today."

Freed nodded, "I've been reading a few books on my spare time."

Makarov nodded, "Alright then. Who here wants to offer their place for her to stay?"

Levy raised her hand again, with a wider grin, "She's set on that Master. She's staying with your grandson," she saw the look on his face, "But I'll be staying there with her."

Makarov finally turned to his grandson, "Seems you have everything under control."

Laxus had a small smirk on his face for that one.

Makarov rolled his eyes, "Well, what are you all waiting for? Time to celebrate our new member!"

Kagome's eyes widened, "Wait what?"

Mirajane approached her, while giving Laxus a dark look but then turning friendly to her.

"Some of the girls have told me about you," she said sweetly, "And I can't imagine what you're going through right now. However, just know you have a family here with us for the meanwhile until things get figured out. Count on us for anything!"

Kagome blinked but then smiled at her, "Thank you. That means a lot."

Mira's smiled widened but then she glared at the blonde, "And you!" She poked him right on his chest, "Don't keep her to yourself. She's sweet. I like her."

He gave her a what the fuck look and shook his head.

"Instead of glaring at me you should be getting me a beer."

Kagome gawked at him but Mira just stuck her tongue out. She turned back to Kagome, "Do you want anything? Beer? Wine? Water? A milkshake?"

Kagome's eyes widened as she clapped her hands together, "You make milkshakes?!"

Mira giggled at her enthusiasm, "Lucy says they're the best she's ever head."

"Can I have a chocolate one?" She practically begged. Mira laughed at her enthusiasm and nodded.

Laxus snorted the moment Mira was gone, "I've never seen anyone excited for a milkshake."

She decided to sit on the stool next to him, "You don't get it! I hardly ever have the time to have one back in my world. Majority of my time was in the Feudal Era. No such thing as a milkshake there. I'm going to take advantage."

He rolled his eyes but still smirked at her enthusiasm and continued to watch the guild as they did one of the things they were best at, throwing parties. He gave her dry and ridiculous descriptions of them.

"He's a pervert, she gets drunk _a lot_ , she's obsessed with a stripper, he will probably die of lung cancer by how much he smokes—"

She gawked at him, "Seriously?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Just saying."

Each member was friendly to Kagome, although Macao, Wakaba, and surprisingly Jet tried attempting to flirt with her. Which she had dismissed without being rude. She hadn't noticed that Laxus had glared at them too. Erza finally got the opportunity to talk to her and Kagome got reminded too much of Sango. Their way of portraying themselves was so similar.

Levy said it would be best to look into the library the following day since their parties tended to last for hours. As the party continued, Gildarts final wish was brought up. Making the guild the number one in Fiore again.

She carefully sipped her second milkshake as all of them talked about it, until Macao's son Romeo brought up the Grand Magic Games. There was shouting of denial and of refusal as the older members of the guild opposed to the idea.

"We have a chance!" The young boy shouted, "We have the Tenrou team with us!"

Wakaba shook his head, "They're seven years behind compared to the other guilds."

Kagome caught the look of disappointment from Levy.

Makarov was unsure, "He is right…"

"The grand cash prize is 30,000,000 jewels!"

"WE WILL ENTER!"

Kagome's eyes widened at the sudden change of heart. That's when those that were missing came in. Wendy's eyes widened when she spotted her and immediately went to her to give her a hug, which Kagome welcomed with open arms. She owed the small girl that she was okay as well.

It was hard for her to keep up. So many voices and exclamations were being thrown back and forth. However, she could see a new vigor rising with them. The opportunity of being number one again and without humiliation. The previous night in the room, Levy had explained to her the hardships the guild went through while they were gone. Kagome felt for them.

"Also," Mira said, "If we win, as winners we could demand access to the Royal Library inside the castle if our library doesn't have anything. I'm sure something in there will give us a clue on how to help Kagome!"

 _That is true. Usually royalty tend to keep important books and documents_ , she couldn't help but think.

Natsu grinned as he brought his fists together, "We got this. Three months is plenty of time to train!"

Gray smirked confidently, "Hell yeah it is."

Juvia immediately started fanning over him.

Kagome smiled again as her hand went to the jewels shards. In less than four months, she could finally be home.

And the thought of that was giving Laxus a sour taste as he sipped his beer in silence.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Training

She was exhausted once the party was over. Laxus wasn't kidding when he mentioned it when she first witnessed a brawl breaking out and saying it was just a normal thing. There was a mess everywhere and various bodies passed out on the floor. She sighed as she stretched her arm, to see the green Fairy Tail sign on her right forearm. She wasn't sure if she should get it, but Cana had been extremely persistent alongside the Thunder Legion. She could've sworn she saw Laxus smile when Mira placed the stamp on it. At least it would be something to remember them by once she was back home.

She really liked all of them. They were so welcoming and downright hilarious. They were truly a family and the new vigor of winning these so called Grand Magic Games really took over. She was excited to see the event. Anything that would keep her entertained while she could figure something out. She needed to go back. There were still unfinished business with Naraku. She highly doubted that Kikyo would be present for the final battle, whenever that would be. There were just a few more shards left to find and they desperately needed them. The more shards he had, the more powerful he was becoming.

She hated violence. She hated death. But sometimes it was necessary, specially with a demon like Naraku.

She sighed again. After the party, those that were still conscious had taken off to pack for their training for the next three months. Mira invited her to come along with her, her siblings, and Cana. Lucy, who she really enjoyed the company from after they talked, also offered for her to come with her Natsu, Gray, Wendy, Erza, Levy, Jet, and Droy. It was very sweet of them, and she kind of wanted to go because of Wendy since she took a huge liking to the younger girl. However, she felt unsettled.

Laxus quickly took her away the moment Gray started to take off his clothes. He didn't want her seeing the notorious stripper. She didn't complain since she was starting to get really tired. She had two drinks and they helped on her unsettled nerves. She saw Laxus drink at least 5 big mugs of beer, but the man was walking just fine. Probably a dragon trait. As she looked up at the full moon in the dark sky, an idea came to mind.

"Can you take me to where the well is?"

He stopped walking and gave her a look, "You want to go there _now_?"

She could only nod her head. He sighed, and without a word, he went up to her and picked her up bridal style. Whatever she wanted to say, she couldn't as she felt his arms around her. She knew she was blushing, and within a second, they were gone.

The woods felt cold and ominous because of the lack of light. He placed her down and both started to walk. She had her arms wrapped around herself, her feet making a crunching sound as she continued through the dark woods, following him since she could tell he knew where they were.

She swallowed as it finally came into view, since it had just been two or three days since she almost drowned. She wasn't really sure, so seeing the well again was making her slightly nervous.

 _I just have to touch the bottom of it_ , she encouragingly said to herself, _And then maybe I can go back._

She saw the rope by the side of the well, which she figured it was the one Laxus used to pull them back out. She grabbed it and secured it around her waist while the other end she tied it around the tree that was five feet away from the well. He silently watched her as he leaned against the tree where the rope was secure. He crossed his arms and let her do what she needed to do. He could tell it was important for her.

She took a deep breath, sat on the ledge and brought her legs over. Without another thought, she jumped.

She came back up for air and to relax. She counted to three and then she went under the water again. She swam, all the way to the bottom and she could feel her lungs starting to tighten, but she just prayed she could see the familiar blue light. She stretched her hand and she was able to touch the bottom with her index finger.

But nothing happened.

She was running out of air so she immediately swam back up. She gasped loudly as she could feel the disappointment spreading through her. She grabbed the rope and pulled herself back up. He was there, and he extended his arm for her to grab it. She did and as she came out, she let herself fall to the grass. She felt the string with the flask of the shards move and ripped it out.

"Is this your doing?!" She shouted angrily at the inanimate object, "What else do you want from me?!

It's—" her voice broke, "It's already bad enough I've lost _three_ years of my life for you! And now I can't go back?!"

Her shouting was so raw and filled desperation and fury. She really wanted to throw the shards and never see them again. Laxus felt his throat grow hot by her angry cries. She seemed that she needed to let it out, so he didn't approach her yet.

She was just simply furious. Furious that things always seemed to happen to her. Reincarnation of Kikyo, being hated and attempted to be killed by Naraku numerous times, to Inuyasha never accepting her love, for missing out on a bunch of family things, and now, to being stuck in a new world.

There was a sudden pulse that he felt from her, but as quickly as he felt it, it disappeared. He was confused, thinking that just maybe he just imagined it. She had stopped her cursing and angry screaming. Now she was just crying on the grass, small whimpers coming out of her lips.

He _really_ did feel bad for her.

He removed his coat that was around his shoulders and placed it over hers. Gently, he placed his hands on either of her shoulders and pulled her towards him as he sat down and placed her on his lap.

She felt so small and fragile.

She curled against him, seeking the comfort and security she was starting to feel by being with him. He was her anchor at the moment, and she felt herself being drawn like a moth to the light.

At least before she was still in Earth.

He still didn't say anything. He just held her while at times she would continue to cuss out whoever had done this to her. He ran a hand through her soft silky hair, in hopes that it would lessen her nerves.

Sure enough, she fell asleep and it didn't take long for him to do so as well.

* * *

She groaned slightly, as she could feel a knot on her shoulder for sleeping on the hard floor. She could feel the cool grass against her cheek, gently scratching her face. It tickled more than anything. Memories of the previous night soon came, that her eyes shot wide open and she sat up abruptly.

Laxus was waking up, right next to her.

She blushed and her heart started to beat faster than normal as she realized she spent the whole night with him.

She heard him let out a throaty moan as he stretched his arms, making her blush to worsen. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, in hopes to get rid of the sleepiness that he still had. He could hear the chirping of the birds and the gentle squeaking of the squirrels as the rays of the morning came through the forest.

She had her back to him as she was trying to get rid of how red her face probably was. He raised an eyebrow as he knew that _she_ knew that he was awake and poked her on the side. He still didn't do good with being ignored.

"It's rude to not say good morning to the person you slept with you know?"

Oh yeah, that was the worse thing to say.

She turned around, completely flushed and staring at him in shock, "Y-You are su-such a pervert!"

She screeched loudly, making him cover his ears as he winced, "Fuck woman. You don't have to scream!"

She scooted away, trying to put some distance between them. She swallowed as she took a peek inside his coat that she was currently wearing and sighed in relief to see she was still fully dressed.

He glared at her, "I'll have you know I don't fuck women unless I'm told to do so."

She returned it, "Do you have to be so crude?"

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "I'm just clarifying. I didn't touch you. I ended up falling asleep soon after you did."

She averted her eyes from his, "I'm sorry for my outburst last night. I feel bad that I keep using you as my personal handkerchief."

He got up and stretched, "Everyone goes through something at some point. It's better to do it when someone is there instead of doing it alone," he made a face, " _That_ is pretty shitty."

He helped her get up, and as she used her hands to remove any of the grass that got stuck to her she confusedly looked at her clothes, "Shouldn't I still be wet? Or possibly sick? I mean, I fell asleep wet."

And for the first time ever, she saw just a hint of read spreading through his face. It was very minimal, but it was there.

He was _blushing_.

He swallowed as he looked away, "I used my body heat to keep you warm during the night. Not enough to electrocute you, but enough to make sure you wouldn't end up being sick."

She found the gesture really thoughtful and smiled at him, "You're just making it really difficult for me to figure out a way to thank you."

He raised an eyebrow at her, but then an idea hit him. He walked up to her and leaned down, putting his face dangerously close to hers while wrapping an arm around her waist. The familiar blush was back in place and her blue eyes were wide in alarm.

She couldn't even form a sentence. However, a mischievous glint appeared in his eye and he smirked.

"You're too easy to tease."

She gawked at him, but before she could say anything, he took them away from the forest.

* * *

He took them to Evergreen's place since he had told the three of them to be there early in the morning. They had objected at first, but now that he was officially back in the guild, he was back in his leader status of his team.

" _I don't give two flying fucks if your head feels like Natsu and Gajeel are fighting in it alongside Erza because they dropped her cake. Be there or else."_

Apparently it worked because he could already hear Evergreen's screeching.

And it was just barely seven in the morning.

 _Crash._

" _Bickslow, how many times I've told you, your fucking dolls don't belong in my kitchen?!"_

" _Come on Ever, they were just getting me something to drink!"_

" _There's coffee all over the place..."_

" _Shut up Freed!"_

 _Smack, "DON'T TELL HIM TO SHUT UP!"_

And that's when Laxus decided to open the door, with Kagome in front, and a mug was sent flying through the air.

Kagome had many demons and arrows thrown at her before, that dodging became second nature to her. She quickly ducked and Laxus moved his head out of the way as the mug crashed onto Bickslow's apartment door across the hall.

She blink at the shattered mug and then looked at them, "That's one way to say good morning."

Evergreen smacked Bickslow on the face with her fan, "I'm so sorry! This idiot gets himself carried away. Reminds me a lot of Natsu."

Bickslow gawked at her, "You're the one that threw it!"

Kagome looked at Laxus, who seemed to be trying really hard to be kept from murdering them, "How are you all going to train for three months?"

"Easy. I just have to threaten them that I will kill them and leave them to fend for themselves to where we are going."

And although she had just met the man not that long ago, she had a feeling he was saying the truth.

"Are you going to be joining us Kagome?" Freed politely asked as he went to pick up the pieces of the mug that had been sent flying, "Although from my understanding, you had a lot of offers."

She blinked, "You want me to tag along?"

Evergreen forgot her argument with Bickslow as she jumped towards the raven haired girl and grabbed her hands, "Please! Honestly, I need some female company if not I'm going to go insane these three months!"

Kagome wasn't sure what to say as years of self doubt creeped in, "You don't think I'll slow you down?"

Laxus snorted as he walked towards the kitchen, "If Bickslow hasn't slowed us down after all these years I doubt you will."

Bickslow was really offended, "What's today? Pick on Bickslow day?"

Laxus gave him a bored look, "You brought this on yourself. She told you to not have them come in the kitchen."

Evergreen ignored the men and turned to her, "So? Is that a yes?"

Freed smiled kindly at Kagome, "I have found a few books that could maybe help us. You could come and read them yourself. Levy let me borrow her gale reading glasses last night since you and Laxus left before she could give them to you," he was oblivious by Kagome's blush, "It won't take you too much time to read the books."

Now that really caught Kagome's attention. Maybe going with them would be the best. After all, it was because of them that she was alive in the first place.

"Alright," she said with a nod, "If you don't mind me coming along, I would love to go with you guys."

Evergreen cheered loudly and enveloped her in a hug. After that, it was set. They ate a quick breakfast at Evergreen's place and then all of them went in their own ways to pack. Kagome had _no_ clue when Laxus had packed and brought his bag with him since apparently it was at Freed's place already.

So all that was left was finding her clothes to wear. Evergreen had wanted to tag along, but he knew that would turn into a whole day thing and they didn't have time for it. He would just have to rely on his sense of awareness and keep a lookout for any women's shops.

As they neared Downtown Magnolia, something caught his eye. He grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her inside a store.

A weapon store.

She turned her head to look up at him, "What are we doing here?"

He didn't say anything as he pushed her inside. The store man greeted him respectfully and full of glee, making Kagome look at Laxus even more confused.

 _He doesn't even carry a weapon!_

He continued walking all the way to the back of the store where they were finally met with a wall filled with different kinds of bows. Her eyes dramatically widened as she took them in. She could see some were made out of the strongest wood, and even some made of metal.

She felt like a child in a candy store, but she was confused.

"Pick one."

She whirled around, "Wait what?"

He rolled his eyes, "Pick a damn bow so we can go shopping and then go to the station. We have an hour for all of that."

"I-I can't accept a bow!"

He quirked his eyebrow but didn't say anything.

She shook her head, "I'm sorry but no. You're already doing too much for me. Letting me crash at your place, feeding me, you're buying me clothes, and now this? At this rate I'm never going to be able to pay you back! I-"

He clasped a hand over her mouth as she was going to continue ranting, "Breathe. God. Pick a damn bow. You said you're an archer right? Might as well practice your skills while you're here. It'll help you in the long run. Pick one. We only have less than an hour now because you're taking too long."

He finally let her go and she huffed. But long and behold, there was that glint of excitement in her eyes and quickly started to check out the bows she had been eyeing.

* * *

After leaving the weaponry store, Kagome was happily holding on to her new matte black recurve bow as a quiver of arrows, in similar color, sat on her back. He almost wanted to laugh. She was walking like a kid on Christmas morning. She thanked him for ten minutes as they made their way to the clothing store. He finally told her to shut up, which she did, but continued beaming.

However another small argument arose when she saw the size of the store but after going back and forth again, she ended up sticking her tongue out him while he had a smirk plastered on him.

Thankfully she wasn't a complicated shopper. The few times he had been in a women's boutique, he had almost fallen asleep because of how long Evergreen took. Another time he had come with Mirajane and Lisanna when they were younger and _that_ had been hell as well. Kagome was quick and she seemed to have an idea of what she was going to look for already. She got 2 skirts, three shorts, 4 pairs of jeans, 5 different types of shirts in different colors, three sets of workout gear (which he had made her get first) sandals, tennis shoes, boots, and a dress because why the hell not. She really thought it was too much, but a glare from his made her shut it. Which it was starting to confuse her. Usually she would've yelled at Inuyasha if he gave her such a look. She wouldn't even stand it coming from Sesshomaru.

Why was it different with him?

What surprised her the most, is that even he had ventured off and showed her a few things.

As he passed by the underwear area, an idea came to mind. There was something about riling her up that it was downright comical to him. Whether because he intentionally made her blush or because she could not win an argument with him, like about the clothes since she pretty much needed them. Although he knew better. He could see she had a deadly temper, but he was gonna have his fun anyways. Her voice didn't turn into a high pitch annoying screech how Evergreen or Mirajane would sound. Hell, even Erza. Although after hearing her since he was back, Lucy was the worst.

It was just hilarious hearing Kagome, in his own sick twisted sense of humor. So, he decided to push it by grabbing a black lace bra with red detailing. He showed it to her, a smirk on his face as he suspected she would blush and get embarrassed.

She almost did.

 _Two can play this game,_ she furiously thought in her head as she could see the stupid smirk on his face. Oh yeah, she was going to get him back after what he pulled back at the well. She was noticing that he was more relaxed when it was just them two. He tended to show more facial expressions instead of just his scowl or glare. She had a feeling it was because she couldn't judge him for what he had done in the past and wasn't fangirling like half of the female population from what she had seen in Magnolia. She lost count on how many glares she got just because she was walking next to him.

"Oh I actually needed a new bra," she slyly said as she grabbed it from his hands and inspected it, "Oh look at that. You got my size! Thank you," She then lowered her voice to what she hoped it was a seducing tone, "I should head there and look for matching panties don't you think?"

She didn't wait for a reply as she walked past him as she flicked a lock of hair over her shoulder. She was holding in her laugh because she could just feel his face gawking at her. She was indeed, blushing, since she has never been bold enough to do something like that, but Kami be damned. That man was having too much fun riling her up.

His gray eyes were large as he followed her retreating form.

 _Did she just…_

And that dark voice that likes to get on his case occasionally replied back, _Indeed, she did_.

He hadn't seen that coming.

* * *

Now dressed in her new clothes, a pair of black shorts and a fitted dark blue shirt and tennis shoes, they made their way over to the station where the rest would be. She really liked the weather where they were. It was so fresh and cool.

Although her heart was still yearning for the freshness from the Feudal Era.

As they met up with them, Freed handed them their train tickets and made their way to it. Bickslow went in, followed by Evergreen, Freed, and Kagome. However she heard the large footsteps behind her stop, so she turned around, holding on to the rail as she was going up the steps. She could see the glare on the blonde's face.

"Are you ok?"

He was glaring at the train like if it had offended him.

And then it clicked. "Oh right, your mo—"

He quickly put a hand over her mouth, "Shut it. Last thing I need is for that to get back to Natsu. I wouldn't hear the end of it."

They made their way inside and found where the rest of the group was sitting. They had found a private compartment. Probably from preventing people seeing Laxus with his motion sickness. Freed was sitting on one side while Ever and Bickslow were sitting on the opposite, arguing already. Laxus headed straight to the side of the window and left Kagome to decide where she wanted to sit.

She really didn't want to get caught in a fight between the two mages, so she decided to sit in between Freed and Laxus, who already had his eyes closed and arms crossed.

"How long is it going to take us to reach where we are going?" She asked Freed since the other two were still going at it.

"It is a 5 hour trip to Clover Town," he responded politely, "Feel free to rest whenever. Laxus always tries to sleep most of the rides to lessen his sickness."

"Do you think we'll see Blue Pegasus?" Bickslow asked as he petted one of his totems.

Evergreen shuddered, "Although Ichiya is a well respected wizard, I rather not."

"I would if those two would shut the fuck up."

Kagome was the only one that heard him.

She had never seen anyone with a bad case of motion sickness, so seeing him hunch over when the train started to move and his face turn slightly green, she found it comical but mixed with pity. A strange combination.

It was half way through the trip that everyone had quiet down. Evergreen had laid down, occasionally kicking Bickslow in her sleep. The man also was leaning against the window snoring away. Freed had also fallen asleep, as the past two or three days he had been going to sleep well to help with the research for Kagome. Apparently they were still very tried from the party the night before.

However, she wasn't sleepy.

She put on the glasses and opened the book and started to read. She was amazed by the magic of the glasses as she was going through the pages rather quickly and actually maintaining the information in her brain.

 _This would've made high school so much easier for me!_ She thought with excitement as she read the book.

An hour into her reading, the train jerked slightly, making Laxus move away from the window with a loan groan as he held his head and rest it between his legs.

 _Whoever decided to make this a dragon slayer's weakness_ , he bitterly thought, _I hope they're rotting in hell_.

His eyes snapped open when he felt a cool wet cloth against his forehead and a hand massaging the back of his neck.

He tried looking at her but his whole vision twisted and he groaned, "What are you doing?"

She slightly snorted at how his usual strong voice sounded like a small child, "You're about to puke your brains out. I'm trying to prevent that. I don't do well with throw up."

If it wasn't because of how shitty he felt, he would have brought up her puking outside of his apartment building. He let her push his head towards her lap where he settled. The cloth that had been on his forehead moved towards his closed eyelids and he let out a small groan on how good that felt.

"Better?"

"Much."

They were silent for a moment and then, "You hunted demons, but don't like throw up."

It was more of a fact than a question.

She rolled her eyes, "Or demon guts. Although it's not like I had much of a choice anyways to avoid seeing that. I would either send Miroku or Inuyasha to retrieve the pieces of the shards from a destroyed demon. They smell gross."

She looked down at him, where she could see he was still pale but no signs of green on his face, "You always get it this bad?"

A grunt, "I meant it when I said Natsu is worse. Erza has to knock him out for him to make it through the trip."

She cringed, "That sounds pleasant."

They stayed silent for a moment that she subconsciously started running her hands through his hair as she hummed to herself while she continued reading with her other hand.

He let out a groan again, but she guessed he was just having another wave of nausea again.

 _Just open your eyes and see the glorious ti—_

 _You need to go away._

 _Oh come on,_ it growled, _We have to show our gratitude for her being so caring. Don't you smell her? It's intoxicating, and the way her hands are moving it's making—_

 _Seriously. Shut the fuck up. I barely even know her._

A pause, _Since when has that stopped you?_

 _Shut. Up._

 _Ohhhhh so you_ like _her. Little Laxus has a crush?_

 _Why are you even talking to me? I preferred you being a quiet bastard._

 _You're such a wuss. But fine. I'll let you enjoy your little_ crush.

Not a crush. At least that's what he told himself. He was holding a weird small attraction towards the woman, but he wasn't gonna admit that to himself.

"Laxus," a shook on his shoulder, "Laxus."

He groggily opened his eyes to see Kagome's dark blue eyes staring at him, "Oh, now you're awake. You were growling kind of loud. We are here."

He immediately sat up. He hadn't felt time move that fast on a train, ever. His gaze fell upon hers.

"Where are the others?"

"Something along the lines of 'Not risking my life to wake him up.' Bickslow was the first one out the door."

It growled, _pussy._

He mentally rolled his eyes. He helped her gather the rest of their things and made their way out.

He took in a deep breath, grateful that he no longer had to be inside the train. Laxus couldn't help but smirk. This is when the fun was going to start.

The team knew they would be coming to Clover Town and daily go out to the forest, train, come back to their inn.

Or so they thought.

"So Laxus," Freed finally asked, "Which inn was the reservation to be made? I'm sure that Kagome and Evergreen must be exhausted from the trip and would love to freshen up."

"Follow me." He said gruffly, in order to mask how he really was feeling. As he walked by past Kagome, she saw him attempting to hide his grin.

 _What is he planning?_

They followed him. And walked. And walked. And walked.

It wasn't until they hit five miles that Evergreen finally lost it.

"Where the hell are we going Laxus?!" She loudly exclaimed, making birds hurriedly fly out of the trees.

He set down his bag, "We are here."

Bickslow removed his helmet and looked at his best friend with a worried look, "Did the motion sickness finally rot your brain? There's no inn here."

"We are camping here."

That was immediately followed by various yells of complaint, specifically from Evergreen and surprisingly Bickslow.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"How are we gonna shower?!"

"We are not gonna have any privacy man!"

"How am I supposed to sleep on the ground?!"

"What are we gonna do for food?!"

As they were arguing, Kagome had been looking at the trees with deep concentration. At the last part, she grabbed her bow and an arrow and stared at a specific tree. Just as a squirrel jumped out to go to the next tree, she fired, successfully killing the squirrel. It landed with a 'thump' on the ground, catching the attention of the others.

She went to pick it up and grimaced as she saw that the arrow had gone in through the eyeball. She was a little shocked to see that the squirrels in Earthland were slightly bigger than her world. She walked back to them and tossed the arrow with the squirrel still on it at Laxus who caught it with ease.

"I hunt them and cook them, but I don't skin them. I'm going to look for some firewood. I saw some good branches a couple hundred yards ago."

She didn't wait for a reply as she ventured off.

She was in her element after all.

The Thunder Legion were openly gawking at her and then they turned back to Laxus.

"That," he said as he removed the arrow from the squirrel's eye, "Is how we are going to survive the next three months."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Beginning

To say the least, they were extremely impressed.

Beyond impressed.

Kagome took charge without meaning to. She showed them which leaves were safe to use once the toilet paper ran out. She was glad the plants were the same as her world so far, in case something were to happen if one of them got sick or too injured. All those years with Kaede were paying off. She told them what berries to avoid and which ones were good to eat. She told them how to detect an animal tracks as well. There was a small creek that lead to a lake not too far from them, so she taught them how to get the water and boil it to make it drinkable.

Probably Inuyasha himself had no clue how much she had learned.

There were other things, but overall, they were impressed.

Since they had already walked five miles, Laxus decided to just have a relaxing night and start the training the following day. They all sat around the fire comfortably, each of them with their own squirrel. When Kagome had come back from getting some firewood, she also had in her shoulder a couple more squirrels for everyone.

"So Kagome," Evergreen said as she cleaned her fingers with a napkin, "Any love interests from your world?"

Kagome's eyes widened as a sudden blush appeared on her face as she heard Laxus coughing from across where she was at. Bickslow laughed loudly, but he also told her he wanted to know too. Freed was slightly curious.

"What you mean?" She asked the brunette as she took a bite of her squirrel. She was trying to avoid eye contact.

"You mean to tell me," Ever said with a glint in her eye, "No man has gone after you?"

Her eye twitched as memories of Koga and Hōjō came to mind.

Bickslow noticed her twitch, "Ohhhh there is! Do tell!"

"Never took you as the type to like gossip," Laxus commented with a raised eyebrow at him. The seith mage snorted, "We got nothing better to do. Training doesn't start until tomorrow. Might as well learn more from the newest member of the Thunder Legion."

It was Kagome's turn to raise her eyebrow, "I'm a member now?"

Freed smiled, "Well you did come with us to be here for the next three months."

She thought about it for a second and then shrugged her shoulders. He had a good point. Besides, they were the ones that initially helped her anyways, so she found it more fitting to go with them.

She sighed heavily as she turned to Ever. She was dreading this.

"Yeah… there were two," she stopped for a second to think how to proceed on describing them, "They uh… have been pushy even though I've told them no multiple times."

Evergreen looked intrigued as she got closer to the woman, "Oh!"

"The first guy, his name is Hojo. I was around him a lot 'cause of school in my time. Popular guy and what not. But… he was too boring. Sweet guy, but boring."

It was making her twitch just thinking of his sweet naive personality. Thanks to him she had found out that the overly sweet, sensitive, and clingy were not her type at all.

"The other one," she laughed nervously as she scratched the back of her head, "He's a wolf demon prince. We met him because he had two jewel shards on his legs, making him really fast. Once he found out I could detect them, for some strange reason he started to proclaim his love to me. It's funny but extremely annoying a lot of times. Specially during a battle."

In Laxus' head, his inner dragon was lashing out at the thought of two unknown males proclaiming their feelings to her. He was getting annoyed at himself for that. He had just met her. Having any sort of reaction to her supposed admirers was fucking ridiculous in his opinion. He blamed it that he had not gotten laid in a while. It was making him think incoherent.

Yeah, that's exactly what it was.

He must have been arguing with himself for a while because next thing he knew, Kagome and Evergreen were getting their stuff to go jump in the lake for a bit.

Once they left, Freed turned to look at him.

"She is completely something else. The experience she's had the years she's traveled it's like nothing I have seen before."

Bickslow laid down, propping his head on his hand, "Is that why you're having us be out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Possibly," Laxus said as he finished his water, "Let's start setting up the tents. We are up early tomorrow morning."

Bickslow groaned loudly. He didn't want to set up anything and he definitely did not want to be up at the crack of dawn.

* * *

Probably for the tenth time that morning, Laxus pinched the tip of his nose. He didn't know how much his team had lacked on training for the last couple of months he was gone. Granted, Freed had been selected for the trials, but he couldn't believe how much the other two slacked. Evergreen and Bickslow equally hated anything to do with cardio. That morning, he had woken them up at four in the morning to follow him in a ten mile run. He also didn't want to kill them on day one. Not even halfway, Bickslow and Evergreen were all the way in the back. He had let them rest for a few minutes but eventually he told them they would have an all out spar between the four of them. They groaned, but they fought.

They did well, but there was still a lot to work on. However, he knew they could do it. He had picked them to be on his team for a reason. But to attend the Grand Magic Games and win, all of them needed to be on their best shape. The disadvantage of being seven years behind than everyone else was resting heavily on his shoulders. He hated it. He may be a bit less of an asshole, but the infamous Dreyar pride was still there. There was a reason why he had been at the top of the guild for so long. Now that the guild was at the bottom of the pyramid and everyone was apparently stronger, it was driving him nuts.

Kagome had done some meditating of her own while they had taken off on their training. She couldn't fall asleep after Laxus had woken up Evergreen. She was used to being up early anyways. Inuyasha would always be on her case about hurrying up and finding more of the jewel shards. It was rather annoying, especially when the previous day they had walked miles and miles and would come up empty.

It wasn't until she felt Laxus' dragon aura, that she decided to follow it and see what they were up to.

Her eyes widened when she saw them. Granted, she had seen Laxus fight against Natsu, if that could even be called a fight, but now seeing the rest of them in action was nothing like she had ever seen.

They moved in their own way and they had their won magic. Freed was quick with his blade, Ever soared through the air as she avoided Bickslow's small totems as they shot magic at her with his laugh echoing in the empty meadow. However she was more impressed with Laxus. He may be a foot taller than her and bulkier than Sesshomaru, but he knew how to move with stealth. His attacks were coordinated, nothing impulsive like she was used to seeing. He knew when to attack and how. It was raw power but she just knew that he was holding back because that was his team.

However, as she saw him giving Bickslow a painful right hook and sending him straight to a tree and snapping it in half, she had a feeling he may be even stronger than Inuyasha.

Her gaze went downwards at the thought of him. She could only wonder how he was. He would always be mad whenever she would go home. What would his reaction be knowing she never made it back?

She couldn't even picture the worry that her mother must be suffering, if she knew she was missing. She hadn't been home in so long and now this.

She could only pray that when Fairy Tail would win the games, that they could find an answer. Before going to sleep the previous night, Freed had given her a couple of books he got from the guild's library. She had finished one thanks to the glasses, but so far nothing.

She watched them for a while more but then retreated back to camp. She was able to kill a few bunnies and squirrels on her way back to the camp, but since Laxus was training, she had to skin them. She hated it. Specially squirrels. The fluffiness would remind her too much of Shippo.

She was making a mental note to really check the lake the following day to see if there were fishes to change up their food during their next few months there.

She noticed a bag filled with different types of vegetables and she took notice it was inside one of the ones Laxus brought. He really had thought of this through.

She made a simple stew and she was just about done when they finally came back. Her eyes widened by the battered forms of Bickslow and Freed. Evergreen looked pretty bad, but not as bad as them. She almost got up and offered to help, but she decided to hold back.

She had noticed that she could use certain amount of purification power to heal wounds. She had done it on Shippo and Sango after one of their encounters with Kagura. They had been in by a small creek, treating their wounds when she suddenly felt a huge urge to help. Her hand had glowed and she had closed the small gash on Sango's torso. She made them promise to not tell anyone until she talk to the old priestess. Which she did, and the old woman was beyond shocked to see such a lost form of purification being slightly controlled by her. However, the old woman advised her that the less people that knew of her abilities, the better.

Specially Naraku.

So she had to pull herself and not immediately try to use her powers to heal them. Instead, she just grabbed the emergency box and helped them patch them up. They were grateful to her, and Freed had insisted that it was not necessary but the young woman brushed him off.

And as they ate around the fire and talked, she missed her group even more.

Evergreen had fallen asleep soon after they had finished eating, and Kagome could only imagine how exhausted the other woman was. She gathered the now empty pot and decided to make way to the stream that was not too far from them to wash it.

For some reason, as she walked through the dark forest, she didn't feel as cautious as she usually would in the Feudal Era. Possibly because there wasn't a demon with a personal vendetta against her trying to kill her. She breathed in the air as she closed her eyes in pure bliss. It was so peaceful.

"You are way too relaxed. Someone could easily snatch you up and you wouldn't even notice."

She jumped up in the air, dropping the pot and the other dishes. She whirled around and she could see the outline of him, casually leaning against a tree. It was dark, but she could see the his blonde hair and his gray eyes.

She glared at him, "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

He snorted as he removed himself from the tree and went to help her gather the dishes that went flying. She reached for the pot that he had picked up, but he moved it out of her reach.

"I'll go with you. You can get snatched by something out here."

He started walking towards the stream while she stood motionless for a second as she gave him a look. She finally snapped out of it and rushed to him.

"Really? Out in these woods?"

She saw him rolling his eyes as she finally fell into step with him, "We may not have blood thirsty demons, but we have our share of creatures here. Also dark guilds and bandits."

She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm still not super convinced that they're worse from demons."

They reached the stream and right away she took the pot from him and started washing them without giving him any attention, that is, until he broke the silence.

"So, can you fight?"

She stopped what she was doing with the pot and slowly turned her head to look up at him, "I did punch you the other day didn't I?"

She sounded so cocky as she said it, that it even surprised herself the kind of attitude that she was putting into it. He took in the tone as well and mentally smirked.

"If you could even call that a punch."

He saw her inhale sharply and she hastily put the pot on the ground as she got up. Her dark blue eyes narrowed at him, "I think I saw your cheek turning a bit red. Maybe a little bruising."

"You almost drowned. Definitely hallucinating. However, that still doesn't answer my question. You've talked about the stuff your other friends would do, but you've never gone into details about yourself."

She wanted to tell him about her purification energy, but not yet.

"Arrows as you saw. I started to practice more with my friend Sango," she sighed as she admitted the one thing she hated, "I got tired of always getting kidnapped and being helpless."

His gray eyes analyzed her for what it felt like an eternity, when suddenly, he reached and grabbed her wrist and started to pull her away from the stream to a more clear area where she would not fall in. He let her go and stepped back a few feet.

"Show me what you got."

Her eyes widened in shock, "What?!"

He rolled his eyes, "Show me what you got. You're gonna be part of my team and you're going to learn how to fight properly. There's no damsel in distress here."

He smirked at her and she felt her face flush with annoyance.

 _This stupid dragon,_ she angrily thought.

"Fine, but don't complain when this time I give you a black eye!"

His smirked widened as his gray eyes shone with a predatory glint and for the hell of it, he attacked first. He raised his fist and just as he was about to hit her, she rolled out of the way quickly. He threw a kick at her as she was behind him, but her reflexes were too good. He wasn't expecting it.

She caught the look of his face as she fully got up from rolling again on the ground, "I've traveled back and forth in time for three years and constantly going after demons. I was bound to get good at dodging at least."

He could feel his inner dragon purring at the challenge the small woman was doing but Laxus shoved it far away into his head. Not the time. He decided to get a bit more serious and increased his speed to match her. He threw a knee strike as he was close enough to her, but instead of avoiding it, his knee collided against her forearms as she had put them up in defense. She grunted but as he lowered his knee, she quickly swept her leg towards the one he had been keeping his balance with. She caught him right on his ankle and used all of her strength to make him lose balance, which it did happen.

However as he fell, he was able to catch her elbow and pulled her down with him. She let out a squeak as she fell and they rolled on the ground until he was right on top of her. Kagome grunted as she felt his full weight on her. There was not much she could do as her arms where trapped by his chest as he laid on her. He lifted himself up, and he found himself supporting his torso with either hand on each side of her face. He found himself not being able to breathe as the close proximity to her again was making his senses go nuts.

She smelled of strawberries, roses, and how a forest would smell after a rain. He felt his throat growing hot as he was just in a high with her scent.

However it wasn't just that. The way her dark raven hair was spread behind her like a sea with black waves. The way the light of the moon was giving her already creamy skin an angelic glow and her eyes were shining. Her face was flushed and he could see a trail of sweat going down her face, to her neck, to the curve of her breast that was peeking through the dark green v neck shirt she wore.

 _Holy fuck…_

 _Yeah I know._

He didn't move at all as her small hands moved to his shoulders. He could feel his heartbeat increase as a small shiver went down his spine. However, she suddenly gripped his shirt on his shoulders and pulled him forward. His eyes widened but he then felt her shifting her legs so her feet were right on his stomach. With surprising strength, she flipped him over her head, making him harshly land on the ground.

He grunted, but as he got up, he saw the wild look in her eyes.

She was excited as she got up, "That's my first time trying that! I can't believe it worked!"

She was practically glowing with excitement that his smirk slightly turned into a smile. She hoped that her excitement could hide away the nervousness of being in such a position with him.

"Come at me. The night is young."

She could feel a strange sensation going through her veins, but she did nonetheless.

They did not realize that they had been out in the woods practicing the entire night until the first rays of sunrise started to glow from the top of the trees. Kagome was covered in sweat and a few scratches from the times he sent her flying to the ground. She knew he had been holding back, however he was still strong enough to throw around like a rag doll.

What she really appreciated it from him was that he didn't mock her. Yeah, he teased her a few times to make her more riled up and get up and continue practicing, but he never talked to her like if she was less. He told her proper forms, what she could do if someone was bigger than her, if someone was smaller. He was a sensational teacher and everything he told her in just that one night, she absorbed it like a sponge. The hours she spent training with him was something she would always remember.

Inuyasha, never in a million years, would have done what he did. He had in his mind that she was helpless and that he would always be the one to save her. All he needed from her was mastering the arrows with her purification powers, which she did have done. Other than that, he would have never wasted his time on training her. He would tell her she wasn't born to do that, that with Sango was different because she was born into the lifestyle of demon slaying. But not Kagome.

Too weak for that.

Sango only did it because Kagome had begged her to. And they did spar a few times, but not as much as Kagome had hoped. She taught her the basics but not further than that.

Laxus was giving her the opportunity to better herself and she was going to take full advantage.

As he noticed her stance, he could see the way her eyes were starting to drop. It surprised him that she had lasted all night. She kept getting up and saying again. And again. And again. With no effort, he made her drop to her behind on the ground and finally, she didn't get up.

The sweat in her forehead was making her bangs stick to her skin and she was panting heavily. She was covered in dirt and sweat. She lifted her arm and gave the okay sign with her thumb.

"I think I'm done for today," she said panting.

He couldn't help it but chucked as he walked up to her, "It only took you seven hours to be done."

He took a hold of her hand and helped her up, but instead of letting her being on her feet, he placed her on his back. Kagome couldn't even find herself to object, she was finally exhausted.

As he walked back to camp, he heard her snort from his back. He turned his head so he could look at her face that was leaning on his right shoulder.

"I told you I was going to give you a black eye…"

His eyes widened until he remember that she in fact had caught him on his eye once during their spar session.

Well, there was no way he could hide that from Bickslow.

He was going to say something to her, but the light snoring coming from her small form made him stop.

If this was how his training was going to be the next three months with her with them, then he could guess it would be alright. He was becoming attached a little too quickly, that he wasn't sure if he wanted to stop it.

He had never met anyone like her.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Attraction

As he stretched for another day of training, his eyes swept towards his team.

He took notice the way she laughed at whatever Bickslow was saying to her. The way her eyes would turn to Evergreen and the way she smiled at Freed. It didn't matter who she was with, she seemed to always make sure she was paying attention to everyone that was around her. He was pretty confident now that she could give Lucy a run for her money by placing Kagome as the new heart of Fairy Tail.

She had his whole team in the palm of her hand.

Evergreen adored her because she was another woman and knew how women could be. She loved the fact that she could talk to Kagome about the most girly things or boy trouble. She had confessed to Kagome that indeed, she did hold deep feelings for Elfman and although they may be sharing an occasional relationship of messing around, she wanted something deeper. However she was concerned due to the fact of him being so close to his siblings. Specially Mirajane. Kagome tried her best to advise her and Evergreen seemed to listen to everything she told her, which was rare, because Evergreen never listened to anyone. With the exception of Laxus, however he knew better than to get mixed up with the whole Elfman and Evergreen situation.

Freed seemed to enjoy greatly the way that Kagome would speak. She would tell him a lot of her close friend, Miroku, who Freed reminded her a lot of, with the exception of the perverted side. Besides the fact that Freed wanted to know more about her to help her, he also seemed to enjoy her company since they shared a great interest in books. He saw them at times sitting next to each other with a cup of coffee going through books for their research.

Bickslow had been the one that Laxus had been worried about the most. Bicks was crude, no shame with his perverted jokes and constant teasing. Laxus May be brash and at times crude as well, but his partner in crime was a whole other level. However, Kagome seemed to do just fine with the seith mage. She was witty and never would fall for the attempts Bickslow would make of embarrassing her or something. She always had something to say back. If anything, during the last month and a half, Laxus could probably could count three times that Bickslow had been successful with his teasing.

They had celebrated Kagome's birthday since Evergreen had remembered. He couldn't help but feel bad and made a mental note to get her something once they were in Crocus. That day, they spent a whole day at the lake. They laughed, they joked, they bonded. Kagome hated to admit it, but her eighteenth birthday was probably the best one she's ever had. Beside preoccupying on going back home, she felt like a normal person. Somewhat. She couldn't remember the last time she had such a blast for her birthday. Although when it was night time, she had needed some alone time, which they respected. It was also the anniversary of meeting Inuyasha.

He saw her eyes moving in search when they finally landed on him. He felt his throat going hot as her smile brightened and was wider as they made eye contact. A faint blush could be seen the moment he smirked at her.

He thought back to the time he had spent with her and he almost wanted to smile.

He had started to flirt. Something he had no intentions of doing but he couldn't help it. He blamed his inner dragon for that one. The first time he had done it with no shame whatsoever he had made a comment of her legs and ass and she had been so red afterwards, he thought steam was coming out of her ears.

He really enjoyed the way her face would flush with irritation and anger, especially when he would tease her regarding her weakness. He had learned that that word always triggered something within her, and it would make her learn faster and better whatever he was teaching her. He didn't say it to be a dick, he said it because he knew in no way she was weak. She was smart, beautiful, loyal, and strong.

Just thinking of the possibility of her leaving one day, it didn't sit well with him at all.

He could feel the attachment towards the small woman increase, and as much as the desire was growing of pushing her against a tree and kiss her, he had to stop himself. Because she was bound to leave. No point of making a connection with her, at least not like that.

Right?

Laxus had never met a woman like her. Probably the closest had been Mirajane, and although he had considered taking the take over mage out, something had stopped him from doing so. Eventually he was glad he hadn't as he then learned of Freed having a crush on her. Other than that, no one had caught his interest as much as she did.

Kagome was just different. Sweet and calm, sarcastic and vicious the next. Always looking out for everyone but determined to become stronger and better. That motivation is what he found extremely attractive. She always brought up how she always had to be protected and how much she despised it. It was fun teaching her what he knew, because he was molding her into a dangerous woman. Her looks were just the cherry on top.

He inwardly sighed. Yeah, he definitely had a crush.

* * *

As the time went by and more sweat and occasionally blood was spilled, the three months were up.

She could feel her joints starting to burn as she continued to run alongside Evergreen. She was tired and sweaty, but she was beyond happy. Happy for her new friends as they had worked so hard for the last three months in order to compete in the Grand Magic Games. She learned from them more how important it was for them, for their guild, to win the competition. No one should suffer the way the guild did while they were gone. Although it was a whole new world for her, she was determined on being their number one fan throughout the games. Being with them and their personalities pushed away the disappointment of not finding anything in the books Freed brought. She even read them twice each. But nothing.

She saw them bruised and exhausted for the weeks they were out in the woods, but they had all progressed immensely. As she took in Laxus' form at the front of their run, she could feel the sudden increase of power within him.

However, they weren't the only ones that had trained. It became a routine for Laxus and Kagome to train in the middle of the night, but after their first training session, they made sure it wasn't as long anymore so they could have some rest for the following day.

She was faster and her body was much more toned than what it used to be. She probably wasn't a professional fighter or even close to the level of skill Laxus had, but she could hold her own now and that's what mattered. She caught the proud look on his face whenever she did a move correctly and that drove her to continue proving herself. A new feel of power arose. Here, she wasn't Kikyo's reincarnation and constantly being compared to her.

Here, she was just Kagome for them.

But as her gaze was on the lightning dragon, she couldn't feel but her heart speeding up a bit. They had spent a lot of time together, whether with the rest of the team or just them two. There was something about him that even if she didn't want to, it kept pulling her in.

It was scary and it was the last thing that she wanted.

Men was the last thing she wanted to deal with again. Being rejected over and over by Inuyasha while she had fallen for him had been painful. Although those feelings had now gone away, the damage was there. She didn't want to fall for another one, especially one that was as clear as water that was or could possibly still be a playboy. Now for that, she was truly terrified. But her heart always seemed to have a mind of its own as it started to beat fast whenever Laxus was a little too close.

It wasn't just the fact that she was now physically attracted to him, it was his overall person. Even through his sick humor, dry replies, eye rolls, deadpan looks, he held a maturity she had never seen on anyone. He didn't hold a filter and for some strange reason she really liked that. And he was always there for her. Since the very beginning he became this support system. He didn't pry on why she would cry, he was just there, listening and holding her when necessary.

She was pretty sure he could hear her heart speeding up when he would be close enough to touch her.

She sighed mentally as she continued to run. She wanted to tell them more about herself, about what she could do, but there was never really the chance to bring it up. She was always too nervous to say anything. Laxus had pointed out that there was a strange scent to her, one of the times they were sparring, and she knew what it was. During that spar, she had felt her aura rising because she was irritated that she was being too slow to hit him, and she was finally able to kick him. After that, she was careful to not let it spike like that again, because she wasn't ready to say anything, at least during that time.

However she was determined to do it that night. She spent three months with them. She owed them that much.

Laxus knew he had pushed his team to their limits during the three months, so in reality, this run was the last thing they would do. He made them follow him for miles, until they finally reached a cliff. By the time they did, the sun was setting and the twilight hour was setting upon them. Evergreen and Kagome had gasped by the beauty of how the top of the trees were darkening as shades of red and orange filled the sky.

They all shared a moment of peacefulness.

But it was that sixth sense of something happening that it had Kagome turn around and raise a shield. Laxus felt a sudden energy coming out of her body and his eyes widened when he saw a translucent pink shield appearing where less than a second later, various arrows came flying at them but were stopped by said shield.

Freed stared at her in shock and then at Laxus. If Laxus had not felt them coming, how had Kagome?

"Well that's impressing," a sneer said as he came out of the the line of trees behind them, "No one has ever detected us, let alone stop our arrows."

Laxus approached Kagome who still had her hands up in prayer, "Demonic energy," she whispered to him.

His gray eyes went to the line of trees as they narrowed. He couldn't smell them.

"How many?" he asked her quietly as the other three were getting ready to fight.

"I feel one alive soul. There's five demonic auras."

"What is it that you carry woman?" It growled, "I can sense it… so much power…"

Her eyes widened as she looked at the jewel shards inside the small flask on her neck.

Laxus glare intensified as he cracked his neck, "Drop it."

She looked up at him, but his gaze was solely on the line of trees that was becoming darker as night was slowly settling. He would have to rely on eyesight to fight them.

The moment Kagome dropped the shield, they attacked.

Five cloaked figures came sprinting out of the tree line, immediately going after them. Laxus was able to catch two of them with his lightning, but the other three had made it with no difficulties. Freed brought out his sword and quickly slashed them while Evergreen attacked with her fairy machine gun spell and Bickslow used his babies on the Byron formation.

Kagome took notice that they were shielding her because she didn't have her bow and arrows. She hadn't brought them with her because they were going to run. She wished she would've done the same as Freed and just carry her weapon.

 _I'm so stupid!_ She thought as she saw another one coming out of the tree line and going straight to her. She hadn't sensed another one. She dodged it as she tried thinking of different ways to attack without harming herself so much.

The creatures were tall, around Laxus' height. Their skin a pale blue with black markings. Their eyes were a bright yellow with a green slit. Their skin resembled scales that seem to shine with their movements.

Another came out of the trees and they cornered her. Her eyes widened in alarm because they were starting to mask their auras. Laxus saw and his anger increased as he punched the two he had been fighting out of the way. Freed, being the closest to her and seeing she had no weapon, tossed his sword at her.

She cried out when one of them slashed her arm but with her right, she caught the the sword and stabbed the second demon that tried reaching for her neck.

The sword shone in a bright translucent pink as her purification energy traveled from her body onto the sword. The demon screeched in horror as it soon became ashes. The other demon stared wide eyed, but she quickly slashed it before it could react.

The battlefield seemed to freeze over as all the attention went to the raven haired woman, who's aura was fully visible as a challenging glare appeared in her eyes as she gripped the sword tightly in front of her, blood dripping from her other arm.

Bickslow seemed to be the first one to snap out of his shock as he had his babies body slam against the demon and send it flying to her. Kagome turned quickly and slashed it.

That's when the plan was created.

Laxus expanded his sense of hearing to detect the others while Freed created a rune on their radius to not let any of them escape. Evergreen, after sending her demon to its own demise, got closer to Kagome as her backup.

Laxus was able to send the demons he heard towards her way and she purified them, so now all now what was left was the person that summoned them.

Kagome swallowed, "If only I had my arrows-"

A surge of dark magic was thrown at all of them. The brunette immediately covered Kagome from the impact but was thrown unconscious to the side afterwards. Freed, Bickslow, and Laxus were not any better as they were slammed against the barrier walls that Freed had created, however, the moment Freed fell to the ground he lost concentration of it and it disappeared. Kagome yelled their names but as she moved to them, she gasped as she could feel a dark aura embracing her. More demons seemed to appear out of thin air and started making way to her friends. Goosebumps spread through her body as she could feel the entity of whoever had created the demons attempting to enter her mind when she tried to move.

 _NO,_ she yelled in her mind as she shut her eyes tightly, _this happened once and it's not going to happen again!_

The wind seemed to move around her as her own aura increased in size, her hair moving with the wind. In her mind, everything was foggy, until she saw the shape of a body, a dark shape, moving side to side and getting closer to her. She opened her eyes, which seemed to be glowing, and raised her hands towards the direction of the shadow she had seen in her head.

A ball of pure purification energy materialized and it shot forward, attacking the person that was controlling the demons head on. The moment it made impact, an explosion of light occured, engulfing everyone.

Laxus could only stare wide eyed as the demons that had appeared, turned into ashes, as their screeches echoed in horrifying pain. When the light faded, Kagome fell to her knees with a gasp. Bickslow motioned to him to go to her, while him and Freed would look at Evergreen who had not woken up yet. Laxus got to her just as her body was moving forward, preventing her from crashing onto the hard rocky ground of the cliff. Her head landed in his chest and he quickly took a hold of her to turn her, where he could see a trail of blood coming out of her nose.

To say the least, he was at a loss of words of what he saw.

She wanted to say something as she looked at his face, full of concern, but she was tired, and slowly closed her eyes.

The following morning, she woke up with a throbbing sensation on her arm and a splitting headache as well. She was inside her tent as the memories of what had happened made their way to her head. She sat up abruptly and panic rose when she saw that Evergreen was not laying next to her. She got up, ignoring the numb sensation of her legs and tore the tent open when she slammed onto a hard chest.

"You need to take it easy," Laxus said with a shook of his head as he wrapped an arm around her to sustain her.

She gripped the front of his shirt as she looked up at him, "Evergreen-Where's Evergreen?"

"I'm here Kagome."

Kagome removed her gaze from Laxus and leaned to the side, to see the beautiful brunette sitting on the ground with a blanket wrapped around her.

Laxus sighed, and with no effort, picked Kagome up and placed her next to the other woman. They embraced quickly and Kagome could feel relief knowing she was okay. Freed approached her and handed her a cup of hot tea, which she gratefully took a hold of. As she carefully sipped it, she could feel their gazes on her and she inwardly sighed.

She cleared her throat as she brought the cup down to her lap, "I guess I forgot to mention I have purification energy…" she trailed off, unsure on how to continue.

"I have never seen anything like it," Freed said as he sat down, his eyes wide with pure wonder, "Is it because of your relation to Kikyo?"

She took notice the way Laxus was looking at her and she swallowed, "Yeah… However what happened last night, it's nothing like I have ever done before. Usually my purification energy transfer to my arrow, in this case, your sword, but the whole thing coming out of my hands like that, I haven't done since I first came down the well when the Centipede Demon got me. It felt different though."

"Could be because your body took in ethernanos. That's like the magic container in our bodies."

Evergreen nodded, "That can be why you felt it different."

Freed leaned in more, "What else can you do?"

She sighed, "I can see through illusions. Detect jewel shards but you know that already. Same with seeing auras…"

She trailed off as she saw the gash that Laxus had on his head, from one of the claws from the demons. He had been sitting across from her so she crawled to him and raised her hand.

He felt the warmth spreading through his body as her energy hovered about his wound. It felt different than Wendy's. It was a lot more calming and pure. He was staring wide eyed at her.

"I just realized I could do this not that long ago," she softly said as she removed her hand. Her eyes casted downwards as she felt sad all of a sudden, "I know I should have been honest with you four about what all I can really do. I guess I was just afraid. Afraid of revealing what I am and you turning against me or using me. It's happened before. I was already planning on telling you, since we've become close. It's just… in my world, anyone that finds out the extent of my power, they want to use it for their advantage or they want to kill me. I guess that reaction has been implanted in my head. I know that it won't happen with you guys. I'm sorry for not being honest."

Evergreen shook her head, "You shouldn't apologize. We were strangers to you, it was understandable why you kept it from us."

"I'm just glad you were there," Bickslow said with a wave of his hand, "Even Boss Man didn't feel them coming."

Kagome giggles softly as she caught the look on Laxus' face, "Well technically they were after the power of the jewel. And here I hoped it wouldn't be the same as back home. However they were smart. The ones that came out later had masked their auras."

Freed nodded, "Perhaps. However, most of the demons in our world are either too far or are in association with the Black Wizard Zeref. Those are the ones we should be in the lookout for. They could really see you as a threat."

Laxus looked at Freed, "You're talking about the Nine Demon Gates. Tartaros."

He felt Kagome's confused look, "It's the last dark major guild standing. Last I knew there hasn't been any movements from them in years. No one knows where their guild is either."

"Let's not focus on that," Evergreen cut in, "We need to focus on the games. We should go back today to the guild as the Master is supposed to say his decision on who will be participating."

"Ever, you and miss Kagome just relax. We will pack everything. Also I feel Laxus should use his teleportation to get us back to the town faster. I can be the first one there to start buying our tickets back."

And with that, the men quickly started gathering their things. Kagome didn't like being just there, not helping, but the moment she reached to grab a plate that was by the put out fire place, she felt herself getting shocked. It wasn't painful, but it sure made her retract her hand quickly. She caught Laxus' smirk and she just shook her head.

Within two hours, everything was packed and ready to go. Laxus took Freed, then Ever, then Bickslow, and then finally Kagome. When he got back from taking Bickslow, he saw Kagome healing the wound from where the demon caught her. He was mesmerized by it.

Wendy couldn't heal herself.

He found himself kneeling down and gently grabbing her arm as he tugged it slightly to inspect it as she finished. Small traces of pink could be seen, but it definitely wasn't leaving a scar.

She took notice of one, how close he was, and two, that they were alone. She felt her heart speed up and she swallowed slightly.

"I'm sorry again for not telling you, especially _you_ ," she said softly, "It wasn't fair, especially with you helping me so much."

He shook his head, "Don't. It's okay. I hid the fact I was a dragon slayer from my best friends for years, the whole guild even longer. I get it. Some stuff can't just be shared so easily."

She gratefully smiled at him as he helped her up. She was still slightly weak from the previous night, so he made sure he kept a strong hold on her. She could feel the heat of his body and her heart swelled.

 _No, bad Kagome, no!_

She shyly looked at him and she could see the tiniest hint of a smirk on his face. He always enjoyed embarrassing her.

Specially knowing that the attraction was mutual, although he doubted that Kagome suspected anything of his developing feelings for her.

And just like that, they were gone.

* * *

Laxus wasn't happy about riding on a train again for several hours. However, he did have Kagome and she sure helped with his motion sickness last time. The moment they got inside a cart, he made sure the woman was next to him and immediately laid on her lap. She stared at him wide eyed but he didn't say anything. She got the full message. She saw the familiar green tint on his face the train started and started gently running her fingers through his hair.

As the hours went by, with Laxus fast asleep in her lap, Freed and Bickslow left to get a few snacks from the other cart. As they left, Evergreen was curiously staring at Kagome.

"I've seen you improve these three months," she said quietly in fear of waking up her leader, "And the way you talk about how it is with your old friends… how come you set yourself back so much?"

Kagome wasn't in the slightest surprised by her question, "The insecurities of always being compared to Kikyo did a lot of damage. Inuyasha constantly running to her didn't help in the slightest."

Evergreen held sympathy for her, "Do you love him?"

Kagome was quiet for a while, "Yes but—"

"We are about to reach Magnolia!" Bickslow loudly said as he tore the door open with a handful of snacks. Evergreen shot him a dirty look as he interrupted whatever Kagome was going to say.

Kagome rolled her eyes at his excitement but then smiled. She looked down and that's when she noticed Laxus with his eyes open.

Panic settled in.

Had he heard?


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Team

Since it was night time by the time they got to Magnolia, he decided it was best for them to just meet at the guild the following morning. They all said their goodbyes and the three of them made their way to their own apartments.

Leaving Laxus and Kagome alone.

Without a word, he took a hold of her two bags and easily put them over his shoulder as he grabbed his with the other hand and started to make his way to his place.

Kagome had spent three months with him and could now read him. Something was bothering him and he wasn't saying it.

Mentally, Laxus was pissed.

He was mad that for a slight moment he really thought she returned any sort of feelings towards him. Although he had yet to even really try anything because yeah, she was eventually going to leave. But for him, that wasn't the point.

He was also mad at the fact that she was the first woman to _ever_ make him feel jealous. He's never felt jealousy regarding a woman. Never. Not in all his twenty three, technically thirty if he counted the seven years stuck in Tenrou, years of life. He was really tempted of leaving her alone in the apartment and venture off to find someone to screw and get rid of his irritation.

Very very tempted.

They continued to walk in silence, leaving Kagome with her unsettled thoughts.

If Laxus had heard, why was he acting the way he was?

Besides, he had heard wrong.

She loved Inuyasha. She would always love him. But she was not in love with him, at least not as much as she used to be. Or actually not at all anymore. It had been fading and ultimately much more the past three months. Long gone were dreams of a silver haired boy. If anything, the dreams she kept having for the last two months were with the lightning dragon that was walking in front of her.

Laxus had shown to be more talkative when it was just them, so the whole silence thing was leaving her confused and sad. She thought they at least had a good enough friendship where he could tell her what was wrong.

She sighed softly. Even if she wanted to explain, she wasn't sure if he would let her.

When they finally reached the apartment and they walked inside and he had still to say a word, she finally had it.

He was making his way over to his room as he left all the bags in the living room, but she had quickly made her way over and placed herself between him and the door. Her dark blue eyes darkened as she seriously looked at him.

"What's wrong with you?"

He quirked up an eyebrow, "I'm tired," he said slowly, "And I want to go to bed."

Her eyes flashed, "Don't give me that bullshit," his eyes slightly widened as he had hardly heard her cuss before, "You haven't said a word to me since we got off the train. At all. Did I do something to upset you?"

He rolled his eyes, "No. Can you move?"

She didn't. If anything she lifted her head in defiance more, "I don't believe you."

He growled in warning, but instead of shoving her away, he turned around and made himself to the kitchen. He grabbed a glass and just as he was pouring water on it, she spoke again.

"You heard what I said to Evergreen," she said matter of factly, "You heard me answer her question about Inuyasha."

The way she saw his body stop his movements was more than enough proof, "Why? Why do you care if I said that?"

He chugged the water and not so gently tossed the glass inside the sink. She had moved away from the door and so he made his way back to his room.

"I honestly don't care. I don't care who you have feelings for. That's none of my business."

But it was the tone he said it that she felt torn. It was different.

"If it isn't none of your business why are you acting like if you're jealous?"

He whirled around from opening his bedroom door and his harsh gaze landed on her, "Why would I be jealous of some half demon I've never met in my life? Or who you love? There's nothing to be jealous of."

In reality, he really had no clue how his words damaged her. She felt her heart squeeze in her chest as she struggled to hold back the tears from spilling in front of him.

She made a hasty turn, directly going towards her now bedroom.

He seem to snap out of the attitude and vile way he said it as he followed her. But she was faster and quickly went inside and slammed the door shut, locking it quickly.

He clenched his jaw as he knocked, "Open the door."

He could hear her sniffing, and he had a feeling she was against the door.

"You're right. There's nothing to be jealous of. Why would anyone feel _any_ jealousy regarding me?" Her voice broke and he felt his heart drop to his stomach,

"At the end, I'm just old plain Kagome. Just a cheap copy. Goodnight Laxus."

He growled at himself, leaning his head against the door and closing his eyes. He wanted to say something to her but couldn't find the right words to do so.

 _You're such an asshole._

He couldn't find the strength to argue with it on that.

* * *

She had cried for a while. She really was upset for what he had said. Granted he had no clue why those words hurt so much but still.

But as she cried regarding his words, she came to the realization that she was indeed liking the slayer. _Quite a lot._

That's why his words had affected her a lot more than she thought.

She was frustrated at herself but she couldn't help it.

When she woke up as the sunlight case in through the window, she had a new fresh mentality.

She was tired for crying for men that would never want her. She kept telling herself she just liked Laxus, no way actually falling for him, but she decided a friendship with him and maintaining the peace was the best way to go about things.

 _I'm going to leave. I'll be leaving soon. I shouldn't be having feelings._

That was her mental chant that morning.

Laxus was slightly nervous as he heard her bedroom door open. Her outburst had caught him off guard so now he was unsure on how to proceed. He belittled himself and he wasn't able to sleep much. But he would be in for a surprise.

Kagome wasn't one to linger on things. Somehow, one way or another, she saw the bright side of things and forgave. If she didn't have that mentality, that heart, she would've stopped going to the Feudal Era to avoid being with Inuyasha again.

She came out and greeted him with a smile.

He wasn't an idiot. That smile wasn't reaching her eyes but decided not to question it. They ate their small breakfast quietly, or as quietly as it could be since Kagome was humming to herself. He was trying to figure out how to apologize, but wasn't sure how. So silence it was.

Once they were done, they set off to the guild.

They quickly met up with the rest and they excitedly set off. Or as excited as Kagome could be and Laxus could show. The awkwardness was hanging heavily above their heads and it was very obvious to the rest of the Thunder Legion. Evergreen decided to linger back with Kagome and have small talk. As much as she would've loved to ask her what was wrong, she has a feeling it had to do with her leader. And if that was really the case, there was no way she could ask thanks to his heightened hearing.

When they got to the rundown guild, Laxus took notice that it wasn't as loud as he expected. In reality, he couldn't sniff Natsu there.

The moment they walked in, Levy immediately rushed to Kagome and enveloped her in a tight hug. Gajeel shook his head at Levy's reaction but smirked at Kagome as well.

"Kagome! I've missed you!" The small woman exclaimed in pure bliss. Kagome smiled brightly, probably the first real smile of her whole morning, as she returned the hug with as much vigor, "Levy! How was your training?"

That immediately created laughter from Jet and Droy as they sat on the table. Levy pouted cutely as a blush appeared on her face.

"Well… it wasn't how I hoped it was going to be…"

Kagome gave her a curious look, "What you mean?"

Levy's face got redder as she sighed, "On the second day of our training, Lucy's spirit, Virgo, appeared and told us the Celestial World was in danger. We went, but it was a trick to have us there for a party."

Kagome was confused, "How is that bad?"

Droy was now on the floor wheezing trying to catch his breath.

Jet said between laughs, "Celestial World time is different than ours! A day there is three months in our world."

Bickslow started to laugh, "No way!"

Levy pouted more, "This freaking sucks."

Kagome was going to say something, but was interrupted with the Master walking out of his office, "I want to see Juvia, Gajeel, Mirajane, and Laxus in my office now."

Laxus rose an eyebrow at his grandfather, but listened to what he said anyways and followed along.

It gave the opportunity to talk to Levy. The small woman immediately dragged her to a table where various books were with different types of bookmarks.

"We got back a week ago from the Celestial World," she said as she opened a book, "And one of Lucy's spirits let me borrow this book. It's called 'Time God.' It's in a different language so I am trying to decipher it. Maybe it could tell us something in regards your world. All other books I have have not been any help whatsoever."

Kagome took a hold of the book, taking in its silver plated cover with intricate designs as she traced her finger over it, "Maybe. Freed took some from the guild's library and we read them. But nothing. Thanks for your help Levy. I really appreciate it!"

The bluenette smiled brightly, "Any time! Now tell me, how were your three months? I think I'm kind of seeing some muscle from your arms!"

Kagome laughed and so she told her the kinds of training she did with the Thunder Legion. However, Levy easily took notice of the faint blush in Kagome's cheeks when Kagome told her Laxus practically gave her night classes. Levy really wanted to ask more, but she was well familiar with dragon slayer hearing that she did not want Laxus or even Gajeel to eavesdrop their conversation. She decided to tell Kagome about the team that had been created two days prior, being basically the entire Team Natsu for the lineup.

She spent the rest of the time with her until the others finally came out of the Master's office. She could only wonder what was going on as she could see a predatory and a challenging look from both Laxus and Gajeel while Juvia and Mirajane had smiles on their faces.

Laxus came up to her and called up the rest of the team. They were to go to the city of Crocus the next day.

* * *

The ride had been awkward the following day still. After getting back to his place, she had hid away in the room with another book from his bookcase. She came out one, to make herself a sandwich, but when she did, Laxus was in the living room.

The others had expect for Kagome to sit next to Laxus so he could lay on her lap, but the raven haired woman had opted out with sitting on the other side and lean her head against the window and close her eyes. Bickslow couldn't even find himself to be able to make a joke. The tension was high up in the air that Freed could possibly cut through with it with his sword.

The four hour train ride came and went, and Kagome found herself walking through the streets of possibly the largest city she had ever been in. The only way she could describe it, was literally out of a medieval book, with its tall stone like buildings and walkways and its wood like stores and houses. The city was packed as various residents from all over the country, and most likely from neighboring ones, were getting ready for the upcoming five day festival. She could see the outline of the castle and she could feel herself growing excited as she had never seen anything like it.

However, she had been too caught up in her own awestruck self that she didn't notice Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow sneakily leaving them alone and taking their bags.

Once she realized it, she went into different ways to embarrass Evergreen when she saw her again.

Laxus had similar thoughts in regards Freed and Bickslow. But as his gaze landed on the small woman who kept fidgeting, he said screw it.

"There's a lot of food vendors. Want to go check them out?"

She looked up at him, taken off guard by his sudden question. That was the first time he had directly talked to her after the other night. Other times is because he _had_ to.

Before she could politely decline, her stomach growled loudly, making her glare at her own body for betraying her and blush.

He smirked at her as he placed his large hand on her shoulder and started pushing her, "I'll take that as a yes."

She sighed, but she let him lead the way.

She really thought it would be awkward, but once he got her a burger, the awkwardness faded away and she found herself enjoying his company. Thoughts of what happened were pushed aside.

Eventually as they walked after they ate, she finally let her curiosity give in.

"So how come the Master wanted to talk to you and the rest?"

He rolled his eyes. It took her long enough to ask.

He didn't want to risk someone overhearing what he had to say, so he opted out with slinging his arm over her shoulder and pulling her close. She could feel her heart warming and beating faster.

 _He smells good…_ she couldn't help but think.

"Well," he started as he lowered his voice, "This year for the games, each guild is allowed to have two teams. I just have to make sure I'm at the inn where the rest of the team is before midnight."

Curiosity filled her eyes as she looked up at him, forgetting the fact that he still had an arm around her, "Isn't that going to be too many teams?"

He agreed, "Exactly. What makes this more fun is that Natsu's team has no clue about the second team however."

She had only been around Natsu a few times, but she could tell already it was not going to be a happy reunion if both teams were in.

She caught the glint in his eye and gave him a suspicious look, "Why do I feel there's more to this?"

"Oh there definitely is. But you'll find out with the rest."

She grinned as she shook her head, "Hopefully the stadium doesn't explode."

Her comment caught him off guard that he laughed. Kagome found herself grinning alongside him. His laugh was just too contagious. The few times he had ever heard him laugh, it always left her a little numb, in a good way.

"You still have to see everyone in action. There's no promise the stadium will survive after we are done with it."

They continued to spend the rest of the day together until it was finally night time. They found themselves joking and have mock arguments. He would tease her endlessly sometimes and she found herself yelling at him in a few occasions. It was like what happened, it was forgotten, and they were back to just being them. He had led her to explore some of the vendors of different clothes, jewelry, hats, and such.

She couldn't believe how many people were there to see the games. It reminded her of back in her time, when the World Cup would happen. But this was so much bigger.

The one thing she noticed however, was that there was no Fairy Tail signs, flags, or banners. Nothing.

She remembered how some of the guild, the ones that weren't stuck in the island, spoke of the games. How humiliating it had been for them and how they had been the laughing stock of the games. She prayed that they would win.

As her eyes took in the curious Laxus as he was staring intensely at something in a stand, she had a feeling that this year Fairy Tail was taking the win. She knew everyone that had been stuck for seven years trained hard, even if she hadn't seen them yet. However, thanks to that party, she could _feel_ the excitement and determination.

She had been looking at some curious stones of different colors when her eyes caught the sight of a small clock and saw the time. It was 11:30.

 _How did time go by so quickly?_

She turned around and pushed herself through the crowd to reach Laxus again. She kept pushing people as politely as possible, but it felt that the crowd was becoming bigger. It was no surprise that she found herself tripping.

She readied herself for the fall, but she never hit the stone street.

"You've gotta be the clumsiest woman I've ever met."

His rich baritone voice held so much amusement as his hands were sustaining her waist. Her body was tightly pressed against his as excited shouting happened around them. Her dark blue eyes were connected with his and she found herself not being able to look away.

He let go of her with one hand as his other reached for his pocket. He pulled out a necklace, the stone similar to her dark blue eyes as a tiny gold dragon was wrapped around it. She gasped as he motioned for her to turn around.

She did and she lifted her long raven hair to give him a better view of her neck. She shivered slightly as she felt his fingers touching her neck as he closed the claps of the necklace to secure it. She turned around again, but this time her attention was on the stone as she carefully looked at it with her hand. It was beautiful.

She looked up at him, "Why did you—"

"Happy late birthday," he said. He paused for a moment, but then spoke again, his voice getting a bit deeper as he bore his eyes into hers, "I'm sorry for the other night. I was an asshole. More than usual. But you were right."

She found herself breathing heavier as he placed a hand on her cheek.

"Jealousy is not something I find myself feeling for a girl."

Her breath hitched with the tiniest bit of a gasp as he lowered his head and gently, took her lips with his.

The moment they made contact, the pre Games fireworks went off, but the two of them didn't pay attention.

Ever since he had been left alone with her, he went over what had happened the other night. He hated the fact that for some ungodly reason he was at fault for making her cry. He was always so used to hiding what he really was feeling. Any woman that came across his way wanted him for what he was and what he had.

Kagome was the first one to speak to him like a human being. The greatest debate was with himself and his inner dragon. If anything, it pushed him to do what he was currently doing. The instinctual feel of claiming her was too overwhelming. He probably was moving too fast as he had only known her for three months, but she was what he needed.

He knew she would have to leave some day, so he was making sure he would make an impact in her life how she did with his. He probably wouldn't be able to let her go when the time came, but he knew she had a duty to fulfill and was at least going to make sure that their time together was remembered.

He started to regret it as he took notice that she wasn't kissing him back, but as he started to pull away, he felt her small hands grip his cloak and pulled him down for another kiss.

She had kissed Inuyasha once. It had been sweet and innocent. However that kiss had been out of desperation to make him snap out of Kaguya's spell.

So this, _this_ , was in reality, her first kiss.

The attraction towards him had been growing slowly with every day that it had gone by during the time they were in the woods. He reminded her somewhat of Inuyasha, but not really. While Inuyasha held the cute boyish features, Laxus held the masculinity of a grown male. He helped her, made her feel a confidence in herself that she never thought it was possible.

He never belittled her or called her names. He always opted out on teasing her or giving her crude or sarcastic replies, but he never saw her as someone less.

Whatever feelings she thought she _maybe_ still held for Inuyasha, they were immediately gone now. That was a constant debate if she really _really_ was over the half demon romantically. Even the night of their fall out, she questioned it again. Her heart had never thumped as loudly or as fast for Inuyasha before. A warmth that seemed to cover her from head to toe was all she could feel as she kissed Laxus. A part of her found the idea ridiculous of starting to like another guy that she had met not that long ago, but he seemed to complete her in a way she didn't think it was real.

He could feel her shy hesitation as she had pulled him in for the second kiss that he almost wanted to laugh. This was _her_ kiss to him. Her innocence was downright adorable and he would be damned if someone were to interrupt that right now. The fireworks in the background was possibly the most cheesiest thing that could possibly happen, but his head and the warmth he was feeling was making him ignore the cheesiness.

Part of him felt wrong for kissing _possibly_ someone else's chick, however, if she claimed she held feelings for someone else, she wouldn't have pulled him in again.

 _I still have a shot_.

As they finally pulled apart, he couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked as her wide eyes were staring at him, her long eyelashes slightly fluttering as a blush graced her cheeks.

He smirked at her as he placed his forehead with hers while his arm still was wrapped strongly around her, slightly lifting her from the ground.

"So, why were you looking for me?"

She laughed as she hit him on the chest, "I was going to tell you that it's almost midnight."

His eyes comically widened, "Why didn't you say something sooner?!"

He quickly took a hold of her hand and started pulling her through the crowd as the fireworks were still happening.

"Well I would've if _someone_ hadn't attacked me!"

She let out an 'eep' sound as they rounded around the corner of an alley and he pressed her against the wall.

"I don't think I heard you complaining," he arrogantly said with a smirk as he leaned down to kiss her again, but she quickly turned her head.

"No more until you get to the inn!"

She blinked once she realized what she said and got red _again_. His grin turned predatory as he grabbed her and in a flash, he used his lightning to teleport them to the outside of the inn where Team B were residing in. He grabbed her hand quickly and immediately went up to the second floor.

She was still catching her breath from the sudden teleportation and the way he made her rush up the stairs, when she felt his lips again on hers and kissed her with urgency. She reciprocated, but just as how quickly it had happened, it stopped.

He winked at her as he took in her flushed face and walked right inside the door.

She found herself staring at it while unconsciously placing her fingers gently on her lips. She shook her head as a small smile appeared on her face and she walked in, just as Gajeel was yelling at Laxus.

"Where the hell have you been?! It's ten minutes to midnight! We could've gotten disqualified because you were who knows where!"

Laxus didn't respond as he rolled his eyes. His familiar scowl was in place and Kagome wanted to kick him for being able to look so normal like if he hadn't assaulted her lips just prior entering the door.

Juvia and Mirajane greeted her, Mira having a knowing look in her eyes as she noticed Kagome's rosy lips were _rosier_ than normal. But her and Laxus were on the same team and she didn't want to risk getting electrocuted.

Juvia wasn't blind either, but her imagination was going wild at the possibilities of what the other two were doing. Somehow, that turned into her thinking of Gray.

Gajeel's red eyes went to the raven haired woman, and thanks to his nose, he caught Laxus scent all over her.

He chuckled, but just as he was going to say a sly comment, Kagome took notice of the other male person in the room.

"Hi, I'm Kagome," she said as she extended her hand, "I don't think we've met yet."

Jellal, under Mystogan's disguise, curiously stared at the pretty woman. She must be new to the guild as he had never seen her before. However, he could feel a powerful unknown power coming from her, making his curiosity rise.

"I'm Jellal—"

Mira interjected, "Uh uh!" As she moved her finger from side to side, "You gotta practice saying your other name."

Jellal sighed under the mask, "I'm Mystogan."

Juvia took in Kagome's confused look, "Jellal is a member of an independent guild. They've been detecting dark magic from prior years during the games. He'll be participating as a member of Team B, going with the name of Mystogan, who's his counterpart from another world called Edolas."

"Oh," Kagome said as she nodded, "Levy told me about that world."

He nodded, "I'm currently a fugitive, but in order for me to see more of the dark magic we tend to detect, I spoke with the Master and he was very understanding about letting me be part of the team."

"She'll let you know if there's anything unusual too," Laxus said from his spot leaning against the wall, "She has a knack of detecting dark magic. Specially demonic."

She blushed furiously as everyone gave her their attention, but before she could even explain, a loud high pitch voice boomed through the window from outside.

" **GOOD MORNING! TO ALL THE GUILDS WHO HAVE GATHERED FOR OUR GRAND MAGIC GAMES LISTEN CAREFULLY**!"

They all went to the balcony to see what the commotion was about. She gasped as a ginormous labyrinth was in the middle of the sky and the rules were explained as a giant pumpkin head said that the preliminary event was about to begin.

The building shifted and started to move, looking like if it was growing in size. Kagome,Juvia, and Mirajane took a hold of the balcony's railing as it moved. Both Gajeel and Laxus turned a soft shade of green, but just on how quickly it came, it faded as it finally stopped. She then could see other inns in a similar state as then, a stairwell was created, leading to a giant circle type labyrinth.

The giant projection explained the rules, and Laxus' face quickly turned serious. He looked at her, and she nodded at him, "Go!"

And with that, they were off.

She stood there until she couldn't see them anymore. Her eyes wandered downwards and she was surprised to see Levy, Lisanna and Happy running.

She wasn't sure if they could hear her, but she shouted their names.

Happy turned and flew up to her, his arms moving frantically as his eyes were wide, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh there was no room where the others were going to be rooming so the Master got me a room here. I guess a guild must've been sleeping here too," she quickly lied, "Are you okay? Why are they running?"

"Wendy never made it back to her inn! We need to find her!"

She didn't think twice, "Fly me down. I'll help you guys look!"

He did as he was told, and as she ran with the other two girls and eventually separated to cover more ground, she could only hope Wendy was okay.

 _Come on Wendy,_ she thought as her and Levy made way towards the castle, _Where are you?_

* * *

A/N:

And that is it for Chapter 7! and yes, that just happened! Let me know what you all think so far.

Also, I'm well aware that Gajeel didn't show any motion sickness until Chariots, but as you all could figure, this isn't going to be a typical story where everything that exactly happened will be re written. There will be some twists that some of you might not be expecting.

I love and appreciate all of your support!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I'm loving the response this is getting so far. Thank you all so much!

Disclaimer: I owe nothing!

Chapter 8: The Games

The anger she felt the moment Raven Tail walked into the arena when they were called was a fury she had not felt in a long time. She could feel it. The malevolent aura from the person that attacked Wendy. She gripped her fists in tight balls as her arms were on either side of her.

Levy and her were able to enter the Castle's gardens and searched the maze. Eventually, Kagome felt a weakening aura and followed it, just to see Wendy and Carla unconscious. She didn't care that Levy had no clue of what she could do. She was more focused on assisting the unconscious girl and her exceed, hoping some of her healing energy would help in their recovery. She told Levy to find Lisanna and Happy while she stayed with them. The bluenette put the shock aside of what she was seeing and quickly left.

The malevolent aura was different than what she had felt before, but it was evil nonetheless.

She stayed with Wendy and Carla during the whole night alongside the old woman, who surprisingly did not have an issue with her as she noticed she did with the rest. She had felt horribly for not being back at the inn for once Laxus was back, but her instincts were kicking in with Wendy. The young girl had helped save her, now it was her turn to help her. She had woken up when Natsu and his team rushed in after thankfully qualifying, and the broken hearted girl asked Elfman to take her place.

Their goal had been to have Wendy out of the competition and they had succeeded. Porlyusica stated that if it wasn't for Kagome's fast thinking, the chances of Wendy surviving would've been less. The magic depletion she had suffered had been too great for her small body to take, putting her life at risk.

Kagome explained what she could of her powers and apologized for not saying anything before. She had only said about her healing energy and arrows. She didn't find it necessary speaking of her ability to see through illusions as well.

After everyone left, Kagome heard her crying the whole night.

The following morning, the official first day of the games, Wendy insisted for her to go and cheer their guild.

" _You're part of our family now. Go cheer them for me!"_

Levy took notice of the dark look in Kagome's face, "Are you okay?"

Kagome crossed her arms as she glared, "It was him, the one in blue. He attacked Wendy."

Makarov, who was near her, turned from his spot and looked at her, "You can sense it?"

Mavis, the first master of Fairy Tail who had made an appearance at the entrance of Fairy Tail Team A, gave Kagome a curious look, "I don't know what it really is, but you have an incredible amount of power within you."

Kagome blushed at the ghost's prace but still answered Makarov, "I can sense auras. His aura was lingering on Wendy's body."

Lisanna clenched her fist, "Well, I am sure we are going to take them on and defeat them!"

"It's not going to be easy," Makarov seriously said, "Their guild master is my son."

Kagome's eyes widened, "You don't mean-"

He nodded, "Laxus' father."

"They're a dark guild," Levy explained.

Kagome could hear the commentators deliberation regarding Raven Tail's legal status, which turned out, it was completely fine. She worried about Laxus, wondering how he was feeling in regards of going against his father's guild. He had told her about him once during their training, and by the way Laxus had described him, he was not in good terms with the man.

Just as the tension was growing in the field between Fairy Tail A and Raven Tail, the next team was called in.

" **Oh wow! What a surprise! This year's competition just got a whole lot more interesting folks!"**

Her eyes immediately turned back to the field the moment she felt his aura and she couldn't help but smile brightly. Lightning crackled furiously as the Fairy Tail symbol came to life and as soon as it was gone in a flash, the new team was revealed.

Herself and Levy were the ones cheering loudly from the balcony as they were fully aware of there being two teams for the lineup. The bluenette had confessed to her that Gajeel had accidentally let it slip before they left for Magnolia.

She noticed that Laxus was looking up at the balcony and she waved, a bright smile on her face. He smirked, his gaze then going back to a very pissed off Natsu.

Kagome could hear Lucy saying how it was not fair having a team full of S class members. She poked Levy, hoping she would explain.

Levy had a very small sad look on her face as she quickly filled her in, "Gajeel and Juvia used to belong to another guild, Phantom Lord, and they were S Class members there. Same category as Laxus, Mirajane, and Mystogan."

Kagome nodded with understanding, not wanting to ask further as it seemed to be a sensitive topic.

Then Sabertooth walked in and she could practically see the arrogance coming out of the team in waves. They were not going to be easy to beat, that was for sure.

* * *

The event of the day had been dreadful to watch. Her already bad taste towards Raven Tail increased more when their competitor kept going after Gray. The only good thing that came out of it was the conditions if Team B were to win.

Now it made sense why both Laxus and Gajeel had those looks in their faces after their meeting with the Master.

And just as the event ended, the field was ready for the battles.

She was excited to say the least. She had not been into sports since she started going through the well, making it extremely difficult to be in any sort of competition events and watch them. Now being there, in a magic competition nonetheless, it was exciting. There was a vast variety of different types of wizards that she was super curious and excited to see in action.

The shouting incremented in the guild as the first battle of the day was called. Lucy vs Flare from Raven Tail. They saw it as the perfect opportunity to get some points and to win against them.

Kagome was impressed as Lucy immediately had the upper hand. She could hear the surprise in some of the guild members voice and she took notice that by summoning two spirits at once, was a difficult thing to do.

It was later on the fight that Kagome took notice that Lucy wasn't fighting back. Any hit that Flare was doing was not being blocked or anything. It was weird and she didn't like it. She suddenly felt an unfamiliar aura in the balcony where her and the rest were. She removed herself from the edge and started focusing where that aura was coming from. That's when she saw it. A strand of red hair moving by Asuka's feet. She quickly rushed to it and with an arrow that she removed from her back, using the sharp point she cut it, and in that moment, Natsu came in.

Seeing that Kagome had been able to find the problem made him feel relieved. He turned back to the arena and shouted.

" _YOU'RE IN THE CLEAR LUCY!"_

Kagome saw the blonde removing herself from the other strands of hair and summoning a spirit that took in her form. The aura that was now wrapping itself around Lucy was extremely powerful, and Kagome knew Lucy was about to win the fight.

And she felt it again. She really wondered if it was because she was in a new world that her powers were being more sensitive to unfriendly auras. It had to be. It was never this easy before.

The aura she was feeling was the one that got Wendy on the hospital bed.

Putting a shield around Lucy would be visible. However, as the arena darkened as Lucy continued to chant her spell, she knew there would be no way of them noticing. The same arrow that she had used to cut Flare's hair, she readied it on her bow. The others were immediately questioning her what was going on but she didn't pay attention to them as she focused on where she was going to fire it.

She felt the aura getting closer and closer to Lucy as she finished the spell and she fired.

True to her strategy, the arrow had been lost with the lights of Lucy's spell as it zoomed across the field to Raven Tail's balcony. She hoped it would be enough distraction to make the weird looking blue man from trying to sabotage the match.

It worked.

She saw him jumping out of the way from getting hit by the arrow that the aura she could sense on the field it disappeared, and Lucy was able to finish off Flare with her spell.

The crowd was unsure how to react as they were not expecting Fairy Tail, of all guilds, to win the first match of the day. While some were in confusion, others cheered at the display of power from the young Celestial Wizard.

Mavis was now looking at Kagome with a new eye. The woman had been capable enough of _seeing_ the aura, something she wasn't even able to see. She only wondered the power this new member of her guild possessed.

Makarov wasn't one to appreciate cheating, but he knew it wasn't cheating what Kagome did when she prevented another team from doing so. Before anyone could ask an explanation, she quickly took off with Natsu as Lucy was having difficulties to walk because of the damage Flare caused.

As they walked through the hallways, Natsu gave her a bright smile.

"You saved her out there. Thank you!"

Kagome could only smile in reply. There wasn't much she could say.

* * *

Lucy was wincing as she walked through the tunnel where the competitors come out of. She was thrown around like a rag doll and her legs were severely burned. At least she had won against Raven Tail. That's what she was grateful for. Some revenge from Gray's part as well.

She looked up when she heard the sound of feet walking. Natsu and Kagome were rushing to her. He quickly picked her up so she wouldn't be walking on her feet anymore.

"We are lucky Kagome is part of our guild," Natsu told her as he looked at her, "Someone tried sabotaging your spell."

Lucy had her arms around his neck and looked at Kagome in shock as the young woman was starting to heal her legs, "I felt the same aura that was on Wendy making its way to you. If I had been a second late, you would've lost."

Lucy shook her head, "I can't believe they were going to cheat."

They started walking away then, taking Lucy to the old witch. Wendy had been worried when she saw her, but she was assured she would be okay.

The blonde turned to look at them, "I'll be back soon. I'm just going to take a shower first."

As they left the infirmary, Kagome told Natsu that she would go and check on the other team and let them know of Raven Tail's attempt of cheating.

The moment she arrived to their balcony, she took notice that Juvia wasn't there. She had a feeling it had to do with how she did on the event of the day. Laxus had caught her scent and was already looking at the entrance as she came in.

His eyes didn't deceive him. He knew he had seen an arrow going through the air towards Raven Tail's balcony.

"Fast thinking with your arrow," he said to her as she walked up to him.

"Well I couldn't let them do that. It was easy to pick up because it was the same aura I felt on Wendy."

Mirajane smiled at her, "Good thing you're with us then!"

Gajeel grunted as he crossed his arms, "Well it seems your daddy has a feeling she did something. He's glaring at us from where he's at."

Laxus narrowed his eyes as he turned towards the audience until he finally spotted him. True to Gajeel's word, Ivan was glaring at their balcony with deep irritation and anger. He subconsciously placed himself between Ivan's glare and Kagome, but she placed a hand on his arm.

He looked down at her as she shook her head, "It's okay. I've had horrible glares thrown my way. I can handle it."

He didn't like it, but he moved so she was visible again. He heard Gajeel snickering from behind him and he turned to him, an irritated look already on his face, "What metal head?"

Gajeel's smirk widened as he was sitting on the bench, his arms stretched out on the arm rest, "Never thought I would see you completely smothered by a girl."

Laxus' eyebrow twitched with irritation while Kagome rolled her eyes, "Says the one that can't look at Levy without blushing."

Gajeel started sputtering as a blush appeared on his face. Laxus chuckled as he swung an arm around Kagome as they continued to watch the matches. Mira could only laugh as Gajeel couldn't think of a reply, but it at least confirmed her suspicions regarding the iron slayer and their script mage.

Jellal the whole time, was quietly looking at Kagome. It seemed that the young woman held power that none of them had ever seen before.

* * *

Embarrassed wasn't a word that could describe what Laxus was feeling. He was unsure how Natsu's team was taking the lead while their team only had one point. It was irritating to say the least. Granted, Jellal had been sabotaged by a member of his guild because he was about to blow his cover, but still. It was ridiculous and it had left him in a sour mood for the remainder of the evening.

The bar where they currently were in, Bar Sun, was extremely rowdy as the celebration of Lucy's battle occurred and lifting the spirits from Team B. Cana, already plastered, was going on and on regarding Team B. Kagome was sure that if Laxus did not have her on his lap, he probably would've knocked out the card mage already.

As she thought back to them walking in and Laxus placing her on his lap without a shame, it almost had her blushing again. There had been various cat calls and whistling as they took in, from what it seemed, the newest couple of the guild. She still felt they may be going a little too fast, but it felt right altogether as he had a hand on her hip.

They laughed and they drank, to the point that Kagome started to feel drunk. Something that had not happened in a _long_ time. It made her more bold with her actions and Laxus wasn't sure if he was happy with a drunk Kagome or terrified.

It wasn't until she was practically hanging off of Levy who also got extremely drunk because of Cana, that he decided to take her back to the inn.

"But Laaaxuuusss *hiccup* I waszn't done talkin to *hiccup* Levyyyyyyy…"

He rolled his eyes, "You're going to have one hell of a headache tomorrow. Let's go."

The drunk priestess outright decided to sit on the floor and cross her arms as a pout appeared on her already reddened face.

The buttons of her black blouse had come undone, giving anyone that was looking at her an almost full view of her breasts. He caught Macao staring and Laxus immediately glared at him. Laxus sighed with mild annoyance as he bent down and picked her up.

As Erza watched Laxus putting Kagome over his shoulders as the small woman complained, she walked up to the Master, but waited until they were gone.

"Lucy told me what she did," she said to the somewhat sober older man, "She's still an enigma to me. Do you think it's right for Laxus to be involved with her when she could possibly be leaving back to her world?"

Just then, Mavis appeared since Makarov seemed to be a little too distracted with his beer.

"I think it is amazing for Laxus to have someone," the young ghost said as she swung her legs as she sat at the edge of the table, "Whether it's for a little bit of time or forever, she's going to make a great impact in him. Besides, her power shouldn't be underestimated."

Erza nodded as she took in what Mavis said. Lucy, who had overheard the conversation, decided to chime in.

"I never thought someone could handle him."

Freed chuckled as he had been behind them, "You would've been surprised if you saw them during those three months. I am pretty sure Laxus enjoyed making her mad. I lost count of how many times she yelled at him and he was smirking."

Whatever Erza was going to say, she was interrupted when she caught sight of an old rival that decided to take Cana into a drinking contest.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

She winced when she felt a bright light coming in through the window through her eyelids. As consciousness got to her, she could feel her head pounding. It almost felt like if Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were battling it out in her head.

She groaned as she grabbed a pillow and placed it over her head.

Laxus came out of the bathroom, as he was getting ready for the second day of the games. He was drying his hair with a towel as he shook his head.

"I told you to not try to drink with Cana. That's signing your death wish."

She removed the pillow away from her eyes so she could glare at him, but just as she was going to retort, she noticed all he was wearing was his shoes and his dark red pants. Catching the sight of his bare chest as she woke up with a hangover was not what she was expecting and she found herself blushing yet again.

He chuckled as he saw her reaction. He wasn't sure if he would ever get tired of seeing her blush. He went over to the night stand and grabbed a cup of water and two pills that were waiting for her.

"Here. Mira brought this over like an hour ago. Thought you would need them."

Kagome slowly sat up from the bed and that's when she noticed she was in her own pajamas.

"Did I change my clothes last night or…" she trailed off as she wide eyed looked at him.

He rolled his eyes as he gave her the pills and the water, "I did. Because you decided to puke on the way over here and you were a mess. I just cleaned you up as much as I could and changed your clothes. So, you may want to get in the shower after drinking those."

She groaned as she finished drinking the water with the pills. Leave it to her to puke everywhere _again_ in front of her first…

"So, are we boyfriend and girlfriend?" she bluntly asked, completely forgetting the issue that Laxus had undressed her.

He blinked at her as he sat on the bed.

 _It took her long enough to ask…_

He was thoughtful, "I guess?"

Clearly that wasn't the right response as her nose flared and her eyes darkened further. She took notice they were in his room and she shook her head.

"Look— I already know you're the type to have flings. You seriously cannot deny that. But I'm not that type of girl. I'm not gonna be your toy that you can have on your bed for when you feel like it and then toss me to the side. If that's what this is about then I want no part of it. I am not a wh—"

Her angry rambling was quickly muffled by his lips. Her eyes were wide and as much as she wanted to push him off, she found her body not responding to her.

When he pulled away he shook his head, "What makes you think I just want a fling with you?"

"Your answer…" her gaze lowered as she answered quietly.

He chuckled as he leaned his head on hers, "Honestly, you're my first girlfriend. I've never dated anyone serious. You said it, I've had flings. If I screw up, it's because I'm not used to this."

And that fear, that fear that she's had for years because of Inuyasha, spoke up.

"You're not going to run off if someone better comes along?"

He seriously looked at her. That insecurity of being second was showing again. He didn't like it.

He kissed her forehead, "Nope. Now go shower. Before I pick you up and toss you."

Her eyes widened and she quickly got off the bed. She rushed to the bathroom where soon enough, he could hear the water.

He sighed as he shook his head. When he did so, he noticed her bag was by the foot of the bed. A devilish smirk appeared on his face as he called out to her.

"Your bag is over here. I guess you're gonna have to come out and get it."

He waited patiently until he heard a thump followed by an annoyed shout.

" _You are such an asshole_!"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Rumble

Kagome really tried to cheer for them, but after seeing how Laxus got with motion sickness, she could only pity both Gajeel and Natsu. The other competitors had taken off onto the race, but the two dragons of Fairy Tail were not doing great. She could see on the screen their faces sweaty and going from pale to a sickening green. It was torture for them as they tried to walk in the chariots. She still was trying to comprehend how they had volunteered for such an event. The name itself spoke volumes on what most likely was going to be about.

When Mira asked Laxus if he suffered from motion sickness and he reluctantly answered, she couldn't help but snicker at that. That quickly earned her a glare from him. She would've never believed that the 'all powerful Laxus' had motion sickness. Kagome tried suppressing her own laughter, which he quickly caught on and glared at her.

She grinned at him, then turning her head back to the lacrima screen.

Sabertooth's dragon slayer, Sting, wasn't faring any better and outright gave up.

At the end, it was Natsu's speech that showed her really how much the guild loved each other and that stole the show that day.

It was bittersweet, because as much as she was loving everyone in the guild and was developing a relationship with Laxus, she was missing her own friends deeply. They were a strange bunch. A half demon, a fox demon, a monk, a demon slayer, a cat demon, and a priestess. Probably the most random team that could have ever ended up together. But they worked well with one another. Three years they have given to each one another. A part of their lives.

She could only wonder if they thought of her dead.

There was always that possibility that her world's time moved different than Earthland's, like the Celestial World. If that was the case, what if it had been three months for her but a week for them? Or worst, what if years had passed?

She knew deep in her heart that they could never count fully on Kikyo to help them get rid of Naraku. Although she was a powerful priestess, which she still felt she couldn't compete against, she only had half a soul.

If more time had gone by in the Feudal Era, she couldn't imagine the power Naraku now possessed. It would be a disaster and multiple people would be hurt. Just thinking of him was making her stomach churn and she could taste faint traces of vile rising in her throat.

As evil as Raven Tail seemed to be or whatever else they told her about Hades or the Black Wizard Zeref, they were still amateurs compared to Naraku. At least in her head. She had heard that Zeref was extremely powerful, but she highly doubted that he was as sick as Naraku was.

He was a manipulator. Someone that loved playing with people's heads and hearts. He was powerful, but it was his sick twisted nature that made him the deadliest being that could have ever lived.

Laxus had taken notice of her sudden mood change. She had gone from cheering, to looking sympathetic to what Natsu said, to looking utterly disgusted. He could only wonder if maybe she was thinking of her world.

She had told him about Naraku and he could only guess that he was the one on why she had such a dark look in her face. He knew she had a duty to fulfill, specially by what Bickslow told him once after a training session.

"She only has half of her soul."

He wasn't sure how a person could function or be as powerful as Kagome with just half a soul. It made him think, what if she had her full soul? Her power would be incredible.

He knew she has never gone into full details of her life in her world. He noticed she had censored parts of her tale and by her expressions, she had skipped certain events too. He only wanted to know how she lost half of her soul, but he was going to leave it up to her to decide when it was the right time.

As the event ended, she knew Natsu was going to be okay. He just needed some rest so there was no point in trying to make him feel better.

The battles were interesting to say the least, but the one she deeply was proud and impressed had been Elfman's. The giant muscle of a man faced off the dangerous drunk from Quatro Cerberus and it had been one deadly fight. Power of the wills, she called it.

She found Bacchus to be even more of a pervert than Miroku, claiming that if he won he would have Lisanna and Mirajane for the night. Seeing him fall, defeated to the ground by exhaustion because he couldn't penetrate Elfman's scales of his take over, it was beyond satisfying. Fairy Tail team A was now at 21 points thanks to that. She saw them, running to the arena to help Elfman to the infirmary where he was going to be needing lots of rest. She was pretty sure she caught Evergreen leaving the guild's balcony as well.

But as they were taking him, the commentators called upon the next battle so the competitors would get ready.

"And now folks! For the third battle of the day we will see Jenny from Blue Pegasus facing off— oh wow! This is new! Jenny will be facing off against Fairy Tail's newest member, Kagome Higurashi!"

Kagome gawked at the announcement, "I'm not here to compete!" She frantically look at Laxus, "I can't go there and fight!"

There was some deliberation from the judges, but apparently she had been put in replacement for 'Mystogan' that day. Which made no sense since he was there.

He growled as he felt the fight must have been rigged. Although Jenny wasn't an extremely tough competitor, him knowing full well Mirajane could defeat her if it was the case, she was still a take over mage. Facing Jenny, the better candidate would have been Mira. Kagome didn't necessarily have magic powers. Her own power was purification, a kind that no one in Fiore or the rest of Earthland had ever seen before.

Gajeel took her very nervous form but he went up and placed a hand on her head, "You'll be fine. Didn't you say you spent three months with the lightbulb? He must have taught you somethin'."

"I'll just start heading there," she quietly said. She saw Laxus moving but she shook her head, "I need to be alone. I'm sorry."

However he understood and let her go. Mira and Cana , who had joined their balcony during the Bacchus fight, cheered Kagome on. Juvia gave her an encouraging smile and Jellal nodded his head at her. It made her feel a bit better seeing how they had so much faith in her.

And that was exactly the issue. If she lost, Team B wouldn't get any points. They would still be at the bottom. There was so much at stake that she felt her shoulders heavy as she continued to walk.

As the entrance to the arena came into view, she took a deep breath.

I can do this!

The moment she walked onto the stage, cheers were loudly heard. Some of the audience had been shifting their views on both Fairy Tail teams that they were gaining a fan base again. She could hear the guild loudly cheering her on and so was Team A.

She was finally in front of the tall busty blonde woman that Kagome was sure she was a model. She was simply beautiful.

Jenny took in her opponent. She definitely had not seen her before. She was petite but with a great body, as she took it in Kagome's simple jean shorts, black boots, and dark red shirt. By her posture, she didn't look like a fighter either.

She could feel a strange power from her, something she had never felt before but she wasn't letting that judge her energy of winning the match.

She had been hoping for Mirajane but clearly she didn't get her wish.

As the gong sounded off, Jenny wasted no time. She sprinted at Kagome and just as she raised her fist to knock her back, Kagome had impressively jumped backwards to get out of the way. As her legs were in mid air because of the jump, she kicked Jenny, right on the side of her head.

The audience lost it and more cheers were heard. Laxus was smirking with pride as he crossed his arms and watched her. She was taking in everything he taught her for the last three months. He could see the challenging glare in her dark blue eyes.

If I can't win this, how can I hope to face off against Naraku? Kagome thought as she rose her arms to cover as Jenny was on her again.

Lucy was beyond impressed as Kagome went into the offensive, throwing kicks and punches, catching Jenny at times.

"I didn't know she could fight like that! She's giving Jenny a hard time!"

Erza nodded in agreement, "It seems Laxus did trained her."

Wendy looked at Erza, "How do you know it was him?"

"Some of the stances she's doing and some of her moves. It screams Laxus all over."

"Kagome did say back in her world there's a dangerous demon that her and her friends have to defeat," Gray said as he leaned more to watch the fight, "She's probably pushing herself to win."

"Come on Kagome keep kicking her butt!" Natsu shouted with intense enthusiasm.

There was a moment that Jenny caught her right on the stomach and sent her flying through the air. She landed roughly, but as she was getting up, she could feel Jenny's aura shifting.

Jenny had done a machinery take over. Kagome found herself having difficulties avoiding the blasts since the woman immediately started to attack her once her take over ended. She couldn't put up a shield, at least not fast enough to defend herself. She cried out in a few occasions when the blasts had been on her or near her.

Laxus started to growl. She was at a huge disadvantage now.

Jenny kept toying with her, and as she sent her painfully to the concrete wall of the arena, she stopped.

"I think it's time to do the grand finale! You were good, but you weren't good enough!"

Laxus' eyes became serious as Jenny did another take over, onto her Battle Form and something no one would have expected from the woman.

Mira's eyes widened as she saw it, "Wait a minute, that's a demon form!"

Jenny heard her as she stood now in her newly transformed body, "I didn't slack off these past seven years you were gone Mira. I learned to master a powerful demonic form. It's a shame you're not down here to get a taste of it!"

Laxus looked at Kagome and he chuckled as he shook his head, "She's an idiot. It's game over."

Gajeel gave him a look. Kagome could barely stand. How was she about to win?

Over on the Fairy Tail balcony, Bickslow and Freed were cheering loudly.

"Why are you guys more excited that she's in a demonic take over form?" Lisanna asked confused.

However, Levy put the pieces together, "Kagome is a priestess! She purifies demons!"

Jenny was gone in a flash, something that the regular eye would have difficulties catching. She raised her fist and went to attack Kagome with a demonic blast. There was smoke everywhere and almost everyone were expecting to see the raven haired girl on the ground after such an attack.

But as the smoke started to clear out, they heard Jenny scream in pain. She was holding her hand and she was staring wide eyed at Kagome who had a shield around her.

"Kagome go! Don't let her change forms! This is your chance!"

Laxus loud shouting was very easy to spot alongside all the insane cheering from the crowd.

She removed an arrow from her back and fired it. And then another one and another one. Anyone would think she was randomly firing arrows or she had horrible aim. Mavis' eyes were so wide as she realized what she was doing.

This won't kill Jenny but she's going to have to find another demon to use!

Kagome then used her last arrow and stabbed the ground with it, raising her left hand in prayer form as her body started to glow.

Purifying energy crackled from the arrow in the ground and it immediately connected to all the arrows that were around Jenny, leaving her with no escape. She was still pitifully grabbing her hand, which was now back to normal as she could feel a hot sensation from it.

Kagome didn't say anything as she let go of the arrow in the ground and connected her both hands, forming a triangle with her fingers, where a huge shot of purification energy was sent directly to Jenny in the box she was currently trapped in.

This was an attack she had seen in one of Levy's books that she had peeked through, but she twisted it into forming it solely for her purification energy. It had to work. She noticed the increase of her powers while being there. This was just a test of the spell, to see if maybe she could use it against Naraku. While such a blast could seriously damage him and hopefully destroy him, it was just going to purify the demon out of Jenny's body.

Jenny screamed in agony as she could feel the power of her take over leave her body, permanently. Like if someone ripped stitches from her body.

She had no idea the woman before her was someone capable of purifying a demon soul. She smiled gently, as Fairy Tail always seemed to find a way to win. She felt the soul leaving and she knew it was over. Removing forcefully a take over soul seemed to drain the magic of her body.

The moment Jenny fell face first on the ground, the amount of cheering was having the ground shake. No one had ever been successful in removing a demonic soul out of a take over mage. It was unheard of. The commentators were going crazy, excited shouting as they had never seen anything like it.

Jenny had signed her loss the moment she did a demon soul.

Kagome smiled tiredly as she gave her Team the ten points for her victory. Whoever had tried making her a fool out of herself by rigging the fight and placing her in the arena, she hoped that they realized they made a huge mistake. It was a good practice, but she needed to get stronger as now all her energy was gone and she could feel blood coming out of her nose.

If Ivan had rigged the fight to hurt Laxus and do damage to the woman that interfered with his plan during the Flare fight, it backfired on him.

* * *

When she woke up, she was laying in one of the beds from the infirmary. She looked around in confusion. She had no recollection of passing out.

Wendy was the first one by her side and her hands glowed as she placed them on Kagome's head, "Let me help you with your headache!"

And it was true. She had a horrible headache. She groaned as she sat up, taking notice of a few bandages on her arms from where Jenny got her a few times.

She heard a snort at the foot of her bed and she saw Laxus casually sitting on a chair, "You passed out on the field. You kind of freaked out Wendy since she got to you faster since you were right by their balcony."

Kagome apologetically looked at the small girl, "I'm sorry Wendy."

Wendy shook her head, "It's no worries. I'm just glad you're okay. Your nose bled a lot."

"That was amazing Kagome," Erza praised, "I have never seen that being possible."

Mira giggled, "Remind me to not be on your bad side. All of my forms are demonic."

Kagome blushed as she shook her head, "No it's okay! Don't worry!"

"How's Jenny?"

Gajeel snickered, "She's still passed out. You sure did a number on her."

"Well I didn't have much of a choice. Once she started transforming she had the upper hand. Until she decided to go demon."

"You did so good!" Levy said as she went up to her and hugged her, "You twisted the 'Holy Rail' to your advantage!"

She smiled as she looked at everyone, "How was the rest of the fights?"

"Well the last one was intense. Mermaid Heel won," Lucy filled her in, "Sabertooth also has a Celestial Wizard."

Kagome made a face, "I'm sure they're not too happy. Both Fairy Tail teams are doing really good."

And so they stayed until night time hit. They bid her goodnight since the old witch wanted her to get proper rest for the amount of energy she used. However, the only ones that didn't leave were Wendy, Carla, and Laxus.

Wendy nudged Carla, "You need to tell her."

Laxus was looking at the female exceed with an eyebrow raised. What did she want to say to Kagome?

"Something wrong?"

But Carla still kept silent.

Wendy sighed, "In Edolas we found out that Carla randomly has moments of seeing predictions."

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed, "The future?"

Carla cautiously nodded.

Laxus grunted, "Out with it already."

Kagome threw her pillow at him, "Don't be an ass," she turned to the white exceed, "What is it?"

"I'm just worried that you won't believe me."

Kagome snorted, "I traveled back and forth in time for three years. Anything is possible."

Carla slightly smiled at that. She looked at Wendy again, who was giving her an encouraging look, and then at Laxus, and finally Kagome.

"I had a vision. I saw Mercurius Castle crumbling down. I saw a glimpse of you, you were screaming. The last image… it's the one that leaves me confused."

Kagome could feel her heart beating in her ears, "What?"

Carla's wise eyes looked at her again, "I saw flesh… flesh burned in the shape of a spider."

Kagome gasped as a shiver went down her spine.

No, there's no way!

"How accurate are your visions?" Kagome asked, her voice small as she tried comprehending what Carla said.

Wendy answered for her, "They're pretty accurate. We just never know when it's going to happen."

"I've been trying to have control over them but it's still very difficult," Carla said apologetically.

Kagome shook her head as a strained smile appeared on her face, "No. It's okay. You've told me enough."

Wendy decided that it was best to leave Kagome to rest after telling her the news. She could tell Kagome knew what the spider meant, but she didn't want to push it further. Neither did Carla.

Laxus closed the door after walking them out and his gaze landed on her. She was gripping the sheets tightly and she was visibly shaking. He looked over, glad to see that Elfman was completely asleep.

He went over to her and gripped her hand, "What's wrong?" He asked quietly.

She didn't answer yet.

"You know what the spider means?"

And she finally raised her head. Her eyes were filled with fear and worry. He could almost taste the anxiety from her. It was coming out of her in waves. He had never seen her so shaken up. Not this way at least. It was different than when she first realized she was in another world.

"Naraku," she whispered as her voice shook, "He has a burn on his back— in the shape of a spider."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Fairy

Kagome could see that Laxus was not surprised at all when Erza challenged the 100 monsters. In her opinion it was reckless. After hearing how each monster was classified and such, fighting them would not be so easy, specially at that great of a number. However, that attitude reminded her a little too much of Inuyasha because of it. If he was in some sort of competition like this one, he would be the one calling out all the monsters as well.

Her respect for the red headed requip mage grew more and more the more she continued to fight. Every single injury was just a greater momentum for the guild. She didn't fall with any of the attacks. She was soaring, defeating every single one with her blade.

The amount of tactic and strategy Erza had, it could possibly rival the one of Sesshomaru. He was a force to be reckoned with and she could at least admit that he held a superiority over Inuyasha when it came to fighting.

She hadn't noticed that she was crying as Erza finally stood in pure victory stance, raising her katana high up in the air as the stadium shook with cheers of disbelief. Fairy Tail was gaining more and more that respect that they held back seven years ago.

She was thankful for the distraction and for the amazing display of power that Erza did.

Carla's vision lingered deeply in her head still and because of it, she had not been able to sleep that well. She couldn't even talk to Laxus about it as much as she would have wanted. However, he knew that Naraku clearly terrified her so he was just there for support. The idea of him being in Fiore was making her stomach feel tight and a weird uncomfortable feeling in her chest.

She did not doubt the strength of the guild, but what worried her were the consequences that would follow if that was the case.

Her eyes went back to the field and she nervously laughed, "Hopefully Cana can score something."

Gajeel made a face, "She's completely plastered."

Laxus sighed irritably, "It'll be a miracle if she aims at the meter."

But long and behold, Cana had a trick up her sleeve.

Literally.

Now everyone was digging Fairy Tail even more.

As the battles progressed, for some reason Kagome kept feeling anxious. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like something was about to happen and she wasn't sure what it was. Her eyes kept sweeping through the crowd because she couldn't get the anxiousness out of her head, until suddenly, she heard Laxus' name being called out for the next battle. Against Raven Tail.

She decided to walk with him to the tunnel, in hopes that being just with him it would cease her mind. She was seeing more and more that the more alone time she was with him, that her senses seemed to always calm down more. He brought a strange security to her.

As the light of the arena came into view as they walked, he stopped and looked down at her.

"You've been off ever since the event, what is it?"

His deep baritone voice was gruff as he curiously looked at her. She mentally winced. He could probably smell her uneasiness.

She bit her lip as she looked at him, "I'm not sure. I've been feeling weird," she stopped as her eyes went to the field where the cheering was getting louder as the crowd anticipated the next fight, "But go. I'll be okay."

She looked at him and gave him a soft smile. He still didn't seem convinced. She reached with her tippy toes to grab his face and bring it down, to give him a quick and sweet kiss. She felt his chest rumbling as he wrapped an arm around her waist possessively as he deepened the kiss. She felt her knees buckle a little, but he held her in place. They parted and she could see a softness in his gray eyes that she was starting to notice that he only saved that look for just her. Her heart swelled as she smiled at him.

With one kiss on her forehead, he made his way onto the arena.

Kagome quickly ran back to the closest balcony, which was the guild's, as the fight started and her eyes widened as she saw it.

The entire arena was in a dark purple hue. Laxus and Alexei stood in the middle of it, not moving a muscle. However, she could see that there was another form of Laxus and Alexei that were battling. Or more like, Alexei was beating the crap out of him. She turned wide eyed to the others, but apparently they were believing the fight that was unfolding.

"How could he be losing?!"

"He can't land a punch!"

"Come on Laxus!"

 _They can't see him… They're seeing his illusion…_

She wasn't sure if alerting everyone that the real Laxus was okay would be a good idea. She didn't know what Alexei was planning and the last thing she needed was putting Laxus in danger.

So she stood quiet and watched.

-.-.-.-..-.-..-

"The people cannot see us having our little chat or hear us. All they're seeing is the illusion of us fighting."

Laxus' eyebrow rose at what the man in front of him said. He took in the low metallical kind of voice, trying to figure out who was under the mask. His eyes swept to the balcony of the guild. Everyone was in complete distraught to what they were seeing from the illusion. Kagome wasn't. She was directly looking at him.

Realization hit him. He had forgotten that she could see through illusions.

Laxus let out an irritable sigh as Alexei continued with his threats, saying how he could manipulate the illusion whichever way he pleased. Laxus glared as he removed his cloak and let it fall on the ground.

Kagome let out a gasp as she saw the rest of the Raven Tail members appearing. She had seen what they had done. If it hadn't been for her, Lucy would've lost her match as well.

She couldn't really make out what they were saying since everybody else was shouting at "Laxus" to fight back. It wasn't until Alexei removed his helmet that she saw the familiar head of Ivan, his father.

Levy kept giving her looks. She wasn't reacting how she thought she would be. She was still, her blue eyes narrowing, like if she was trying to figure something out, like a puzzle. However she wasn't the only one that noticed that. Erza, from her spot, took noticed that Kagome was perfectly still and watching the field with a lot of concentration. Not the reaction she was expecting from her with seeing Laxus being pulverized in the field.

Kagome couldn't try and bother telling everyone else what she was seeing. She didn't want to jeopardize anything, especially now that the rest of Raven Tail were on the field.

They were going to attempt to ambush him. All five of them.

During their talk, Ivan noticed the way Laxus' eyes kept moving towards the guild's balcony. He turned his head slowly and smirked as he saw the raven haired beauty looking at them. He suspected she was seeing the illusion of Laxus losing.

"She's quite interesting boy," he said as his eyes darted back to his son, "After what she did during Flare's fight, she's quite _interesting_. It would be a shame if something were to happen to her if you don't tell me where the Lumen Histoire is!"

Laxus' eyes turned cold as his deadbeat father brought her into this. One thing was threatening his guild, his _family_. Another thing was threatening _her_.

 _I don't care if he put the sperm, fucking rip his b-_

The growl that came out of his body was filled with barely any control, "You're going to wish you had never said that."

Ivan grew irritated, "Then I guess we are going to have to force out of them once we are done with you. You're a good for nothing just like Gajeel, betraying us like that. Obra! Drain his magic!"

Her heart dropped as she caught that part. She slammed her hands on the concrete of the balcony railing and shouted, "Laxus do something!"

The others took her reaction that she finally had enough of seeing him getting beaten.

Laxus was quick with his attacks as he got rid of Obra first. As soon as Nailpudding was on him, Laxus took that opportunity of getting revenge for Gray, by blasting him with a lightning dragon fist. Flare thought she could subdue him by using her hair like whips and take a hold of his arms, but she got gravely injured when he used a roar on her.

One by one, each member of Raven Tail was easily beaten by him.

People probably thought she was insane the moment she started to cheer for him. For them, Laxus was currently losing, being thrown around like a rag doll. Levy had tried talking to her but she wouldn't listen.

She just couldn't help it because she was finally seeing him in action. Which even then, she could tell he was still holding a lot back. She could feel how mad he was at whatever his father had said and he was definitely making them pay. Goosebumps rose in her bare arms as she could feel the ecstatic in the air as his magic increased the moment he finished off Ivan.

The moment he did, the illusion dropped.

Erza had heard the young woman cheering for Laxus, and now seeing him in the field with the unconscious bodies of all of Raven Tail scattered around him, it made sense to her.

 _She saw the real thing._

The commentators up in the stand were beyond confused and various murmurs could be heard in the entire stadium. But soon after, excited cheers could be heard for his display of power. Kagome immediately slipped away from the guild as they had turned to her to ask her questions. She didn't have time to explain anything.

When she rounded around the corner that would take her to the arena again, she crashed onto someone's solid chest. Just when her mind was wrapping around the fact that she had crashed onto him, she felt his arms wrapping around her and pulling her close. She felt him gripping her tightly and couldn't find the words to ask him what it was. She just let him.

Her scent filled his mind, giving him the opportunity to finally relax. She was safe. She was okay.

That's not the fight he had been expecting, but it had been needed. He could feel his inner dragon settling the moment they had caught her scent, since it was still insisting that Ivan needed another beatdown for just even looking at her.

Oh yeah, it was definitely pissed at his father.

After that incident, he had no intentions on going back to watch the next match. He felt bad because he heard Wendy's name being called out, but after encountering Kagome, some soldiers from the Magic Council wanted to speak to him about what happened. It made him more agitated after all the questions that they were drilling on him.

It wasn't until he finally cussed out Lahar that Kagome finally intervened. She was used to dealing with temperamental males, however, _this_ temperamental male was proving to be more temperamental and dangerous than an angry half demon dog.

"I think that's enough questions. He just fought a five on one battle, against his father nonetheless. He already told you everything you needed to know! Have some sort of sympathy!"

Lahar had been dumbfounded at her outburst. Laxus looked like he wanted to laugh at his face.

She had led him away and back to their inn where they were staying. She had already cancelled her own room that Makarov had gotten her. There was really no point since Laxus kept stealing her to spend the nights in his room.

She was glad when the room service she had ordered got there while he was in the shower. She doubted Laxus would appreciate a cup of tea to help him relax, so she had ordered a bottle of whiskey. The moment he came back out, he could smell food and alcohol. He took in the small table in the room with everything and then at the raven haired woman who was looking at his arms where various cuts could be seen from the fight.

"You got food and alcohol waiting for me. Where the hell have you been all my life?"

She rolled her eyes as she walked up to him to get a closer look at his cuts, "In another universe hunting down demons and worrying about my math test. Do they hurt?"

He chuckled as he leaned down and kissed her head, "No. The only thing that hurts is my stomach cause of how hungry I am."

She looked up at him with a glare, "Let me heal you first. Then you can stuff your face."

He raised his eyebrow, "But I'm hungry."

Five minutes later, he was indeed stuffing his face with a quadruple cheeseburger while she sat on the bed next to him as he healed his arm.

She saw him wince a few times when she had to touch the cuts to inspect them. So much for not hurting.

As he felt her energy on him, he swallowed the bite he had taken and was just staring at her and at what she was doing. She had healed him once, so it's not like it was new. He was still trying to get used to the feeling. He wasn't sure what it was. If purity could be felt, he was sure that's how it was feeling. It was warm, it was calming. He saw the way her face was in concentration as she kept inspecting each wound carefully and deciding which cuts were worth to heal.

He took in the way her eyes would shift and move as she analyzed his wounds. The way she would scrunch up her nose as she looked at his arms. The glow from her hands was reflecting on her face and he outright thought that there was no one as beautiful as her.

She had been too into her world that when she finally was done and she cleaned with the back of her hand the small drip of sweat that was coming down her forehead, that she noticed he had stopped eating. She tilted her head in confusion but just as she was about to open her mouth, he kissed her.

She was surprised at how sudden and urgent his kiss was, but she wasn't about to complain when she could feel her body growing weak and hot at the same time against his touch.

Next thing she knew, she was right under him on the bed.

His hands were going up and down her body, but careful enough to not be touching her breasts or in between her thighs. She could feel a slight rise of ecstatic in the air and she found her body reacting to it, craving more. The kissing was turning more intense as they were heatedly making out, and it didn't help the fact that she had bitten his bottom lip. She felt his chest rumbling against hers as she felt him growl.

It wasn't until she wrapped her legs around his waist that he finally snapped out of the high he had been feeling the moment they started to kiss.

He placed his forehead against hers, both of them breathing heavily, as he wrapped his arms around her waist, "I think we should probably stop."

Her vision was hazy, but once her mind started being more rational at their current positioning, she found herself deeply blushing.

"That's probably a good idea," she suddenly felt so small.

He took in how her voice quivered and he rose his eyebrow, "Wait, are you-"

She put her hands over her face as she felt herself growing hot with embarrassment, "Yeah… I am."

His eyes widened slightly at that but then there was a small pleasant rumbling in the back of his head knowing she was untainted.

With more reason he had to pull away.

He dreaded moving away from her, and _it_ was screaming at him in his head too, but he wasn't about to take her the same day he dealt with his deadbeat father. Specially now knowing she had never been with another man.

She was still breathing heavily as she sat up and attempted to fix her hair. He looked at her and smirked, "I kind of like that look on you."

She blushed more as she glared, "You're unbelievable."

He laughed, because indeed, he loved riling her up. He put a hand behind her neck and kissed her softly and gently.

When he pulled away, he couldn't help but say it.

"I don't want you to leave."

Those words seemed to dig at her more deeply than what she thought. She was on the same mindset. She was already having doubts the more time she spent with him during those three months of training and the Thunder Legion. However, ever since their kiss a few days prior, she did not want to leave.

"I have to finish what I started," she sadly said as her eyes dropped from his gaze, "I broke the jewel and I have to put it back together. Naraku needs to be destroyed."

He let out an irritated sigh, "I know. I'm just having a little selfish moment."

She looked up at him and placed a hand on his cheek, "It's okay. I was too the moment I wrapped my legs around you."

His eyes snapped back up to look at her, just to find her holding in her giggles. He mentally groaned. She wasn't making it any easier on him.

"Shut up. Now let me eat before I have you as my main course."

"You're the one that started to kiss me!"

He smirked, flashing his fang at her, "I don't recall you pushing me away. I'm pretty sure I heard you moa—"

He was met by a pillow to his face for that one.

* * *

That night at the bar, they both learned of how Wendy's fight went. Laxus still felt slightly guilty for missing it, but Kagome had stomped on his foot. She probably guessed what he was feeling. But he needed to step away from the competition after it happened.

He unfortunately had to step away for a bit to talk to his grandfather about whatever his sperm donor had brought up. The Lumen Histoire.

In all reality he could give two shits about what it was as long as it wasn't something weird. It was really none of his business anyways. Mavis had explained what she could to him, and after her breaking down and him being completely freaked out about it alongside the old man, he felt he was back to normal.

As they walked through the empty streets of the city, Makarov eyed his grandson.

"You love her don't you?"

Laxus slightly tripped at the sudden question, "Too soon to say that old man."

Makarov chuckled, "You can continue being in denial boy, but the signs are all there. From her too. She was capable from seeing through the illusion, wasn't she?"

He gruffly put his hands in his pockets as he replied, "Yeah. She was."

"She's remarkable boy. No one in that stadium knew what was going on. A stadium filled with wizards and members of the Magic Council and soldiers could not see it was an illusion. Just her. You would be a damn fool to let her slip away. Besides, I'm getting old and I need some great grandbabies."

Laxus abruptly stopped walking as he suspiciously looked at the short man, "A few months ago, you did not even want me back in the guild. Now you want great grandbabies?"

Makarov laughed, "Back then you didn't have a woman that knew how to handle you."

…

Kagome was laughing alongside Lucy as Natsu, Gray, and Erza rode on top of a wooden board on top of a couple of barrels, using them to surf. They could probably get injured or destroyed the entire place, but their spirits were high that night. Kagome had healed more of Erza's wounds, seeing it necessary to help them any way she could. The more attached she became to Laxus, the more attached she was becoming with everyone in the guild. That came with a price of worrying for everyone as well.

Wendy had been beyond fascinated by her powers, "How do you do it?"

Kagome took a deep breath as she could feel her own energy lowering since she had already used them that day on Laxus' own wounds, "Honestly, I'm not sure. I just have this urge to help and help those around me. I feel the energy traveling down from me onto my hands and onto wounds."

That was the reason why Erza had joined in the fun alongside the guys.

Gray was laughing hysterically, "Come on Kagome, join in!"

She raised her hands and shook her head with a laugh, "No way. I don't want to break a leg!"

Juvia gawked as Gray had asked another woman to join in the fun instead of her.

 _My love didn't ask me to join!_

Gajeel had a tray in his hands with drinks as his eyes settled upon his victims. Mira was currently busy and in all reality, seeing Lucy and Levy drunk was always hilarious to him. He wanted to see Kagome drunk as well again. He had seen the look on Laxus' face last time and he was going to make sure it would happen again.

The raven haired woman hadn't hesitated at all when he offered the drink. She surprised them by chugging the whole cup.

She caught the look Gajeel and Levy were giving her, "Oh! *hiccup* I've gone to some inns with my friends when we would have the money… or Miroku would trick a very wealthy lord that he removed an evil presence from their estate. Dinner was always provided alongside sake. I learned to just chug it instead of drinking it slowly."

She could feel her face warm but she didn't care. She was having so much fun with them. She got a hold of Lucy and Levy as all three of them were laughing hysterically.

However, although she was tipsy, she was still paying attention. She got closer to Lucy's ear and said, "You need to tell Natsu!"

The blonde started stuttering as a deep blush settled. But then Kagome turned to her next target.

"You need to tell Levy already instead of dancing around each other."

But the way she said it to Gajeel, it was like she was disregarding the fact that Levy was right next to her. The iron slayer gawked at her, reminding her of a puffer fish as Levy started to blush. Before her or Lucy could tell something to Kagome, the raven haired woman had slipped away.

Laxus was back.

He took notice of how red her face was and the way she was slightly not walking straight and shook his head, "Seriously? Again?"

"Blame Gajeel!" She squealed as she wrapped her arms around him and snuggled on his chest, "I missed you. Don't leave me again."

He had been glaring at Gajeel when she said it was because of him why she was tipsy again, but the moment he heard what came out of her mouth next, his heart skipped a bit.

 _Aaaaaaand we are fucked,_ it said defeatedly.

* * *

"They need to stop it already!" She cried out as she tried tuning out Lucy's screams from the screens, "We need to do something already!"

She never would have thought that someone as sick as Minerva existed in their world, let alone, participate in what's supposed to be some friendly rivalry competition.

This was too far.

Laxus and Gajeel were beyond pissed and their growls were making their balcony shake. It was torture. It was sick.

Lucy screamed until she couldn't anymore.

The moment that Minerva had tossed her body out when the match was called off by the referee and Gray and Natsu were screaming Lucy's name name to catch her, Kagome didn't think twice. She jumped over the balcony.

A regular human would've gotten badly hurt from the high jump, but no human had gone three years battling demons and being dropped from high places. She rolled her body so she wouldn't injure herself, and ignoring the few scrapes she got, she sprinted to where Lucy laid and quickly got on her knees as Gray kept her head on his lap. She concentrated as she put her hands over her body and they started to glow a bright pink.

Her heartbeat was barely there.

Sherria and Wendy arriving thankfully sped up the process for her heart to beat normal again. She swallowed the emotion she felt. She was covered in so many bruises, cuts. Blood staining her creamy skin.

She could hear Erza telling Natsu to calm down due to their bickering with Sabertooth, but it wasn't until she heard the blonde slayer dragging Lucy's name through the mud that she was pissed.

She got up and she saw Sting getting in Natsu's face, "Maybe your guild should have strong female wizards instead of pin up looking models."

Kagome had slipped between the two of them and she punched Sting. The audience gasped as the newest member of Fairy Tail squared off with one of the Twin Dragons.

"You have got to be the most disgusting human being I have ever laid my eyes upon," she viciously said as she shook, her aura becoming visible and covering her entire body with rage, "Take a look at _your_ guild first before judging others. Your title of being number one means nothing when you're trash for a person! She's got more heart than your entire guild put together!"

His eyes flashed as she was going off on him. He took one step forward, "Listen you-"

"Take one more step goldilocks and I will personally make sure it's your last."

Erza and Natsu turned around as they saw Laxus walking up to them, a serious look on his face as Gajeel walked next to him. Sting haltered his step as he saw the body language of the lightning dragon that was glaring daggers at him. The man was walking tall with cautious but determined steps as he finally stood behind the woman that punched him. The glaring grew worse and Sting could feel alarm bells going off in his head as he made eye contact with him that he retracted his step. Orga cracked his knuckles as he took a step forward, making Laxus growl loudly.

Gajeel snapped at the muscular man, "That goes for you too peanut brain!"

Kagome turned around to see that Lucy had finally been taken away to the infirmary. She felt relieved by that, but now she needed to make sure she was really stable.

She started to walk away, but she stopped. She gave one more glare at Sabertooth as her words echoed through the arena.

"I may have joined Fairy Tail not that long ago, but I can say, you've lost this tournament the moment you turned us into your enemies."

She felt Laxus wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pull her away. She reluctantly did. Her fist was still closed as she was trying to remove the urge to turn around and hit him again. Or preferably, Minerva who had a cocky smirk the entire time.

Laxus tossed a look at them before putting his eyes forward.

Orga grew more annoyed as he took a step, but Rogue's voice cut in from behind him as he made his way to them.

"Keep your mouth shut," His calm voice strongly said, "Unless you wish to die today."

Orga whirled around and gawked at him, "She punched Sting! Those fairies need to learn their place in front of the tigers!"

"You lay a finger on her and Laxus will kill you. Let's go. We are done here."

Orga's eyes widened to what Sting said, but nonetheless, he followed them back to their balcony as the field was prepared for the tag team battles.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Rivalry

Gajeel really wanted to laugh. He really did. Although due to the circumstances it would probably be frown upon and he would get yelled at or hit. But damn, did he really want to laugh.

He was impressed that Kagome decided to outright jump over a freaking balcony, but Laxus' face had been more hilarious. It was like he was still trying to process what his girl just did. Gajeel didn't want to move from his spot when Kagome punched the other blonde, however, he felt Laxus' magic flaring and he knew he had to go to prevent one blonde murdering another blonde. A few hits would probably be okay, but murdering would be too messy, Laxus would be thrown in jail, and he probably wouldn't hear the end of it from Levy on why he didn't do anything. So the moment Laxus went, so did he.

He really had to give it to Kagome. She was small and almost all of the time, a sweet cool chick. She fed him, she automatically made her way into his good list just for that one. But damn did she have a temper. It only left him wondering if Laxus had gotten her mad like that already.

As they all left the field and made their way to the infirmary, Gajeel could still feel that murderous energy from Laxus. Oh yeah, the lightning dragon was completely whip by the woman that was under his arm. He really was hoping Laxus would smash Saberpunk's face in, just to give him an excuse to hit something. He was still not happy about what happened with the chariots event.

Kagome didn't go back to normal until she went inside the infirmary to check on Lucy.

Team B waited outside alongside Gray, Natsu, Erza, Happy, and Carla. Kagome came back out and softly told them to come in. Her face was pale and her eyes looked tired. The flames she had in her eyes earlier as she had yelled at Sting was long gone. Laxus gave her a confused look as he went up to her, quickly pulling her against him so she could lean on him, "You alright?"

"She used a lot more of her energy than what she's used to," Porlyusica cut in, "I told her to stop many times but she wouldn't."

Gajeel had grabbed a chair for Kagome to sit on, "Talk about stubborn woman." She smiled tiredly as Laxus had her sit on it.

Cana snorted, "Do you not see who she's with?"

He threw a glare at the drunk for that one.

Natsu's eyes swept on the unconscious form of Lucy. His rage had also disappeared as he took in her unconscious form. It just looked _wrong_. She needed to be up, celebrating with them. He's supposed to see her smiling, not being covered in bandages.

He felt a hot strange sensation in his throat. He walked up to her and swallowed, "How is she?"

"To the quick thinking of Kagome, Wendy, and Sherria, she will be alright. Her heart had been too weak until Kagome got to her first. If it wasn't for that, she would have been in worse shape."

Natsu noticed how Lucy's faced shifted as a groaned slipped out of her lips as her eyes slowly opened. He got closer to her and gripped her hand, worry dripping out of his mouth, "Luce?"

Her wide chocolate eyes were slowly opening, squinting as she tried making out her surroundings. Her tired eyes caught Natsu's face and she tried to smile. Her voice was tired and raspy, "I'm sorry I couldn't win."

"You got us the points," Gray quickly said. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel like a failure in her current state.

Erza nodded as she got close to the bed, "You did excellent."

Lucy smiled at them until realization hit her, "My keys…"

But Happy came through and immediately gave them to her. She was happy to have them back, but she was emotionally drained and her body was still throbbing from the beating she endured. It wasn't long that she fell asleep again, clutching her precious keys to her chest, looking for their comfort in her current time.

Juvia wet a cloth since Kagome was still pale and placed it on her head. Kagome smiled at her, "Thank you Juvia."

Natsu was now growling, his fist white as he tried to calm down his temper, "They're going to pay for this."

And just when they thought things couldn't get worse, Makarov came in and announced that Fairy Tail needed to form one sole team. There had been loud complaints, but it seemed it was becoming complicated when arranging fights. There had been a lot of deliberation, but nonetheless it was created and definitely the strongest team that they could form.

Everyone cheered for them as they came in, and the entire crowd was hyped over the new team created.

Kagome's energy was low so she tried cheering as much as she could. She really had overdone it. She just needed to be more careful on how often she was healing people. It was becoming an almost daily thing. But she didn't mind it. It was naturally in her nature.

By the time the battle against Sabertooth came up, she felt better. She was excitedly watching, specially enjoying seeing Levy's reaction whenever Gajeel was making hits. Kagome took notice that Natsu was being more serious than usual. Then again, this was her first time really seeing him fight. The first time wasn't even all that fair to begin with. But she knew he was doing this for Lucy. She always hoped that it wasn't one sided what Lucy obviously felt for him, but seeing his reaction to her being injured and the way he was looking at her, it wasn't one sided. She knew he was doing this for her. Not just for the guild, but primarily Lucy.

As the fight continued on, she felt a strange sensation inside of her. Her breaths became shallow and her throat felt tight. Suddenly, she felt a force, forcing itself inside of her in her chest. She gasped for air as she collapsed. Drops of sweat started to form immediately on her forehead and her heart rate was increasing at a fast pace. She felt hot, but not like if she had a fever. She felt an intense heat in her chest. She could hear everyone around her, but she couldn't speak.

"Kagome, can you hear me?"

"What's wrong with her?"

"She probably used too much energy on Lucy!"

But Bickslow was capable of seeing what was wrong and his eyes widened.

"Oh my God- we need to get her out of here!"

He didn't hesitate as he scooped her up in his arms as she was trembling violently. Levy left to tell Laxus and Juvia stuck by him, keeping Kagome's face cool to prevent her from passing out.

"Where are you gonna take her?" Juvia asked with worry as Kagome's pupils dilated and her aura started to come out. She could see the sparks of pink flashing violently around her.

"The infirmary. It's the closest and it'll be the safest."

He could see the energy getting bigger within her and he just ran faster. He kicked the door open and placed her on the bed furthest away from Lucy. Lucy sat up as much as she could and Wendy was frantically asking what was going on as she saw the trembling woman in Bickslow's arms. Carla wasn't even sure how to respond. Bickslow placed her gently on the bed, but with his hands he grabbed her arms as she started to thrash around. Juvia moved quickly, grabbing Kagome's ankles.

Just then, a worried Laxus came in. The moment Levy told him that Kagome was taken to the infirmary he had sprinted without a second thought. He could practically taste the anxiety from the script mage, making his worry increase.

"What the hell is going on?"

Suddenly, she stopped moving. There was a force, pushing Bickslow and Juvia away from her and they soon could see a translucent pink shield all around her.

Bickslow removed his helmet as his eyes glowed, "Her soul- it's reforming again."

Carla was next to them by this point, "What do you mean her soul?"

"Is she going to be okay?" Lucy asked with a wince as she tried getting a better look.

Laxus' inner dragon was thrashing with fury inside his head, not liking one bit seeing her in the state she was in.

"Kagome! Kagome, answer me!" he yelled as he slammed his fists against the shield.

* * *

 _She felt herself being pulled into a dark hole. She didn't know where she was going or where everyone else was. She kept screaming their names, his name, but she was coming up empty. It seemed to be endless and she panicked. She was confused and scared on what was going on. She closed her eyes, but as she opened them again, she was now standing on a field. A familiar field. She could see the tall tree, hovering over the surrounding ones. A part of its trunk was smooth, where Inuyasha was asleep for fifty years. She took a step forward, and she took notice that her clothes were different. She was wearing the priestess garment._

 _She knew that there was no way for her to be back home again. She looked around, "What is going on? Why am I here?"_

" _Because it is time to say goodbye."_

 _She whirled around and gasped as she found herself looking at a mirror image. But the eyes were different. They were cool and filled with tremendous pain and sorrow._

 _A breathless gasp escaped her lips, "Kikyo…"_

 _Kikyo seemed paler, her long black hair resembling pitch black ink. The woman cautiously brought her hand up to her chest as she continued to stare at Kagome,_ " _We are one again."_

 _Kagome didn't like how that sounded. She took a step forward,_ " _What do you mean we are one? Where am I? How did you get here?"_

 _Kikyo shook her head, "There's not much time. My time has ended. It is up to you."_

 _Kagome's eyes widened as she felt a knot in her throat, "No… you cannot mean-"_

" _The door will be opened."_

 _Kagome approached Kikyo as her eyes were brimming with tears. She grabbed her shoulders, but her fingers came up empty. Kikyo's body was slowly disappearing in small spectacles of light, "No! You can't leave! Kikyo, what happened?!"_

 _"I'll always be there. For I am you..."_

 _She didn't hold back the tears as she shook her head, "No… I am Kagome."_

… _._

She woke up abruptly with a gasp. Laxus jumped from his spot on the chair and practically ran to her.

She had been in a coma like state for over a day.

"Kagome," he said soothingly as he carefully took a hold of her, "Kagome can you hear me?"

But she wasn't listening. With trembling hands, she grabbed the small flask that hung on her neck and opened it with great urgency. As the four shards landed in her palm, the moment they made contact with her skin, they glowed powerfully.

Her voice broke as she stare wide eyed at her hand, tears brimming in the corner of her eyes.

"No… Oh Kami... no…"

He took a hold of her shoulders and slightly shook her, "Kagome, for fuck's sake, talk to me!"

"Laxus, you need to calm down."

He ignored the commanding voice of his grandfather. He couldn't calm down. He had been losing his shit the entire time she had been unconscious. It was finally the middle of the day of the free day before the final of the games that she finally woke up. She seemed shaken by something and he _didn't like it_.

But she wouldn't stop staring at the jewels or ignore the fact that she could feel her purifying energy moving wildly inside of her. She gripped them and brought it close to her heart as she finally cried out.

He's never felt so useless in his life as the woman who he had been falling for was crying in sorrow. Her wails were bouncing off the walls as she cried. He just held her. He didn't know what else to do because he had no clue what the fuck was even going on.

She broke into sobs as she held on to him. She wasn't sure if she was crying of her own sorrow, or because Kikyo was finally resting in peace, or because she couldn't imagine Inuyasha's pain.

Bickslow approached them slowly, "Kagome, how are you feeling?"

She looked up at him from where her head rested on Laxus' chest, "I… I…"

"Your soul is whole again," he carefully said, "I wouldn't try getting up. Your body has to take it in again, especially with the amount of energy you have now."

Her eyes welled up in tears again, "I… I know… She came to say goodbye…" she sniffled.

"Kagome," Levy's soothing voice carefully said, "Who are you talking about?"

She opened her palm for them to see the glow from the shards, "Kikyo… I… I never said this to all of you… At the start… of everything… I was kidnapped by a witch. She was hoping to resurrect Kikyo again… but she needed a soul… her soul… I was saved, but half of it went to her."

"But now it's back?" Gajeel asked as he leaned against the wall.

She trembled as she couldn't form the sentence.

Bickslow looked at those that were there, "The only way her soul could be whole again is if Kikyo dies. Apparently she did and that part of the soul seemed to have searched for its rightful owner."

She pulled away from Laxus and pleadingly looked at him, "I have to go back. I'm sure _he_ killed her. He's made his move. They need me," she turned to the others, "I'm all that it's left to destroy him."

Makarov nodded in understanding, "We will figure something out. I do not mean to put the sorrow and the severity of your situation to the side, but right now we must deal with one incident before jumping into another dilemma."

She was confused, "What's going on?"

"Lucy was arrested by the Royal Army," Gajeel responded, "You've been knocked out since yesterday afternoon."

Levy placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder, "I'm still working on the book I got from the celestial world. I will make sure you get back to help your friends."

Kagome couldn't describe how grateful she was to them. Their support was unimaginable. However, she didn't like the fact that Lucy was arrested, so she asked them to tell her what happened. The iron slayer had been there when it happened, so he went into the story of how they found an entire graveyard of dragon bones and eventually why Lucy got taken away.

Eventually, they were interrupted by Erza coming in the infirmary. She was glad that Kagome was doing better, but her gaze landed on Gajeel and Laxus.

"The first master wants to plan out our strategy for tomorrow for the games."

Laxus wanted to snap at the red headed woman for coming in and interrupting them. He could feel that Kagome wasn't feeling okay at all. Levy took notice of the mental debate in the dragon's head, "I'll stay with her. You all need to win tomorrow. It's okay."

He sighed as he got up from the chair. He noticed that Kagome hadn't raised her head, her eyes not focused on anything as she looked at her hands. He sighed again and gave her a kiss on the head and stepped out with Bickslow following along. Gajeel had his arms crossed, but the moment he saw Laxus leaving the room he grunted.

"We'll be at Bar Sun. Find us there if you need us."

Levy gratefully smiled at him, "Thank you."

And once they were alone, Levy turned to Kagome.

"What happened? I know you said that she came to say goodbye."

She saw the way her eyes started to focus again as she looked up at her.

"It was so sudden," she said tiredly, "I could tell I was back in my world."

Levy leaned in a bit, "Did she say anything that could be important?"

And the words seemed to echo out of her mouth, "The door will be opened."

Levy furrowed her eyebrows in concentration as the word door played over and over in her head, trying to decipher what it could mean.

But then she remembered the Eclipse plan that Gajeel told them after Lucy had been taken.

"The only door that holds some sort of magical energy is the Eclipse Gate," she cautiously said as her brain was still going fast with different theories, "I'm not too sure… it's supposed to be a door to the past. I'm not sure how that can be linked to your world."

Kagome sighed, "I tried going back to my world through the well I came from, it didn't work."

They stayed in silence afterwards. Levy wasn't used to seeing Kagome like this. The woman tended to always have conversations and laugh and smile. She wasn't sure how deep the relationship between her and Kikyo was, but it seemed to be taking a toll on the woman.

"So, why don't you tell me about your actual world? Not the Feudal Era."

Kagome smiled softly as a mental image of her mom, brother, and grandfather came to mind. The moment Levy saw her smiling, she felt happy again. There was the Kagome she learned to care about.

…

The sixth day of the Grand Magic Games was the most anticipated day. The remaining guilds with all of their members were to have an all out battle royale. The leader, which would be unknown to the competitors and the rest of the guilds, was worth five points while each other member was worth one point. Anyone could come out on top.

Kagome felt horribly that she had not spent the night with Laxus. She didn't want to be with anyone. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

Having her soul back again, it was a strange sensation. She could feel it moving and shifting inside her.

But it deeply worried on what could be going on with her friends back home. She was sure Naraku killed her, meaning he was ready. The final battle was approaching and she had no clue how to get back and help.

In the other hand, she was worried for Lucy who had been taken prisoner. She was sure that Natsu, Wendy, and Mirajane alongside the exceeds would be successful with their mission in retrieving Lucy. They had to be.

It was just too much that was going on. She only hoped it would get better.

When the team came into view, she cheered as loud as she could. She wasn't sure why she felt unsettled, like if it was going to be the last time she would be around everyone like this. But as the fireworks of the ceremony ended, she made sure Laxus could hear her from down the field.

Which in fact, he did. He could easily pinpoint her cheering through the entire mass of people in the stands. He wasn't mad at her for not wanting to spend the night in his room. He couldn't be. He wasn't sure entirely what the relationship between her and the other woman was, but it clearly impacted her. Bickslow had told him that her soul was wildly responding to being back put together again and to not be surprised if her purifying powers were out of control suddenly.

He stood proudly with the rest of his team, but he made sure he moved his head towards where she stood with everyone else and smirked.

He could hear her cheer louder.

And then the signal was given. It was time.

….


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Door

Gray's fight against Rufus had been intense, but he had proven wrong to the First Master as he defeated the memory make mage. She found his magic to be beautiful. The way the ice would glow was breathtaking. Could easily be mistaken for diamonds for the way it looked. She made a mental note to talk to him to see it up close better.

She was anxious as some of the fights were played on the lacrima screens. Several mages could not withstand the competition when it came down to it and many were losing. The points kept going up for Fairy Tail, but also for Sabertooth. Her eyes had widened when Erza started to battle against Kagura, which when she had first heard the name she had internally freaked out, but Minerva had butt in and later on left.

So much fighting going on. She could feel everyone's anxiety whenever someone from their guild was shown on the screen, but they would cheer nonetheless.

Then she was wondering how their rescue mission was going. With Natsu there, she knew Lucy would be rescued. She just hoped no harm came to them. The likeliness of them having some sort of difficulties were pretty high. They were breaking into a castle after all.

When the lacrima screens showed Gajeel's fight with Rogue, Kagome noticed the way Levy stared at the screen. Her eyes were wide and shining with unshed tears. She could already tell the script mage held something for him, but seeing her reaction as he was fighting, it was evident that Levy loved him deeply. Specially when Gajeel used his dragon lungs to suction Rogue's shadow. Levy freaked out, wondering if he would be safe from eating that. Kagome couldn't find the words to reassure her as she didn't know herself. She wasn't sure what was stopping the two of them to be together since their feelings were mutual, but she wasn't about to go and press the matter onto her.

She really didn't feel time go as fast as it did until the sun started to set and Evergreen let out a loud cheer. The brunette grabbed her arm, "He's up!"

Kagome's eyes moved to the screen and her heart skipped a beat as Laxus was face to face against Orga from Sabertooth.

"There's nothing to worry about here!" she heard Bickslow say confidently from behind her. She was unsure if he was saying that to calm her nerves or because he was that confident in Laxus.

In all honesty, she wasn't worried that he would lose. She was that sure of that. It was just the matter of how easy that would be.

Laxus stood at his full height, face neutral as he tried his best from rolling his eyes at the other man. Laxus really didn't like him, and it wasn't just the fact that that the man's magic revolved around lightning. He just had a face that he called it the fuck face. A person's face that urges one's desire to shove on the ground multiple times. And stump on it. Repeatedly.

"You sure you can handle some real lightning boy?" Orga arrogantly said as he flexed his muscle, flickers of his black lightning dancing around.

 _I swear if you don't take him out—_

"You do realize if you count the 7 years I was trapped, I'm older than you?"

Orga spat on the ground, "Sounds to me like a load of bullshit. You fairies disappeared because you damn know you are nothing."

Laxus raised his eyebrow, "You're really special aren't ya?"

Orga grunted, "Of course! I am one of the strongest in our guild! I will crush you!"

A deadpan look graced his features, "That wasn't supposed to be a compliment."

"You're pretty sassy for a fairy," Orga spat out, "Or are you showing off for that girl? I mean, I don't blame you. That rack of hers is—"

Whatever Orga was going to say, was interrupted the moment Laxus moved in a blink of an eye and punched him right on the groin, lightning pouring out of his fist. The impact had been too great as Orga crumbled to the floor in agony, unable to get up again.

Those in the guild balcony cheered, some gawked at the fact that _Orga_ was knocked out with a single hit while Bickslow teased Kagome senselessly. The only thing that the woman could do was hide her face with her hand.

Laxus scoffed at Orga's form twitching on the ground.

 _Serves that bitch right._

However, he couldn't gloat for long as Jura, one of the ten wizard saints, made his appearance.

His eyes hardened as the older man approached, "So the monster finally appears."

* * *

She held onto Evergreen and Levy as happy screams and tears ran down their faces. The crowd screaming, the vibrations shaking the entire stadium as the fireworks went up in the air, all of it was for Fairy Tail's victory. Mavis' fear of failure faded away as the guild was declared the winner. She had been freaking out when her predictions had not gone correctly with Erza, but everything worked out for the best. The crowd chanted the guild's name over and over. Makarov was crying hysterically, primarily thinking of the money that would go into the guild now. Alzack and Bisca were hugging their daughter tightly as they laughed. Jet, Droy, and Max were crying in disbelief. Bickslow, Cana, and Freed were jumping up and down in joy.

"All those years of humiliation are over!" Macao chanted over and over.

As the illusion of the Capital faded away, leaving all five members of the team and Sting with his exceed, those in the guild's balcony rushed to the field to celebrate with them.

Laxus caught her as she came running to him, and although his ribs throbbed because of his fight with Jura, he held her tightly. He couldn't help it as he swept her off her feet and kissed her. He could feel her smiling through the kiss and he smirked. His injuries didn't matter in that moment. What did, was the happiness of his guild and the woman that was happily beaming at him. He was grateful for her smile, because at least for right now, she wasn't focusing in her world.

Her eyes moved to see the others from the team. To her surprise, Levy was smiling at Gajeel as she put his arm around her shoulder to help him walk. The man seemed to want to retract his arm, but he caught the look that Kagome gave him and he sighed, letting Levy support him. He was unsure if Levy was doing it because he was her guild mate and he was injured, or because she actually cared. He said screw it as part of him was going to enjoy having her pressed against him, even for just a little bit.

After the celebration in the middle of the field, Erza moaning in pain brought everyone back to reality just on how injured everyone from the team was. The woman had a broken leg while everyone else held various injuries and had dried blood stuck on them.

"Let's get you guys fixed up!" Lisanna said with a bright smile on her face.

* * *

"You can tighten the bandage on my leg more, I can take it."

"Gray, my darling! Let my soft hands massage your sore muscles!"

"Agh, get away from me!"

"Hey Ever, I think Elfman needs a kiss on his boo boo!"

"I didn't even fight today!"

"SHUT UP BICKSLOW!"

"Bunch of morons and cry babies I swear…"

"Gajeel, your eyes were red when Lisanna bandaged you…"

"No they weren't Shrimp!"

Kagome giggled as her hands softly glowed as she healed Laxus' ribs. He lifted an eyebrow at her, "Something funny?"

Her eyes swept through the infirmary as the rest of the team was being tended to, "Just a peculiar bunch is all."

He snorted and shook his head. However, his gaze became thoughtful, which she caught easily.

"What is it?"

"Natsu was supposed to have sent out a signal the moment they got Lucy," his voice was serious as he gazed out the window, "We never saw it. I doubt that it would take this long to rescue her."

It was indeed, true. Hours had gone by and no sign whatsoever of the others. If they were captured, she was sure they would have found out about it by now. Midnight was approaching soon and still no sign of them.

Makarov raised a bottle as he hopped on the bed where Erza laid, "For our greatest team that rejoiced through the bottom and defeated their opponents! TO FAIRY TAIL!"

They cheered loudly, but Kagome had a very confused look on her face.

"Where did he get the beer?"

Laxus shook his head with a sigh, "Probably Cana."

Just as those in the team started to get up to finally leave the infirmary, a soldier from the Royal Army came rushing in. Sweat was dripping down his face and relief spread through him as his eyes landed on Makarov.

"Sir! I am here to tell you that all participating guilds most meet at the gardens of Mercurius. It is with great urgency."

Murmurs spread through them, all of them wondering what could possibly be happening as they made their way out. Kagome felt a shiver going down her spine as an overwhelming feel of uneasiness rushed through her. They followed, but murmurs of what could possibly be going on hummed in her head.

She prayed hard that the others were okay.

As they finally made their way to the gardens, they could see the Royal Army lined up. Dozens and dozens of soldiers. In the distance, a gray metallic tall outline could be seen.

"Is that a door?" Lisanna asked. Elfman, who was the tallest nodded as he squinted, "That's one manly door."

 _A door… Carla mentioned a door…_

Kagome didn't say anything, she just reached and gripped Laxus' hand tighter. He gave her a look, but by what he saw, he doubted she would say anything. She was deep in thought so he just brought her closer to him as the King spoke.

The King stood in front of the crowd as he explained why he needed everyone to be gathered. His voice was hoarse as the worry could be heard as he begged everyone to aid them with the hoard of dragons that was going to reach Crocus.

"The Eclipse Plan is our ultimate weapon and that will wipe them out," he loudly said, "But we must be realistic that it will not wipe all ten thousand dragons!"

Cana crossed her arms as she murmured, "If those dragons are as strong as Acnologia we won't stand a chance."

Levy swallowed, "I was hoping I would never come across one again."

Gajeel was right behind her, so he placed a hand on her head, "Relax Shrimp."

"I am not asking…" the King continued, "but I am begging to all of you wizards that came to participate in the games and that came to watch them… Lend this nation your strength in this time of tremor."

The cheers of agreement erupted as a new vigor was felt through all the wizards. Fiore was their home and they would do anything and everything to protect it. The King thanked them as he bowed to them, tears streaming down his face.

Erza turned to a soldier that was near them, "We are missing some of our friends, do you know anything?"

"They're up ahead with the Princess!"

Kagome sighed in relief, "Oh thank Kami."

Laxus nudged her, "See, there was nothing to worry about."

She smiled at him, however, she still wasn't fully convinced. She could hear some of the other guilds murmuring on where they should go once the dragons were to attack to save the city. Evacuation plan had undergone immediately after the games, so the city was almost fully evacuated of civilians.

They all stood together, anxious for the dragons to arrive.

And then they heard the clock tower ringing, signaling midnight, everyone's veins were pumping with adrenaline as they readied themselves for the upcoming attack. Everyone turned to the sky in different directions, expecting for them to appear.

But nothing.

Kagome was confused, as they had been so sure of the attack, but so far, nothing.

Then, a pulsing sensation made Kagome freeze. The hairs in her bare arms stood as a terrifying shiver went down her spine. Laxus took notice of this and turned to look at her, "Kagome?"

But the woman seemed to be in some sort of trance. She could feel her purifying energy wildly moving inside of her, alerting her of the danger up ahead as a horrifying aura was coming. Without a warning, she sprinted in the direction of the Eclipse gate.

"Get out of my way, move!"

"Woah lady!"

"Watch it!"

"What's with you?"

She ran as fast as she could. She kept shoving wizards and soldiers out of her way. She was panting, her blue eyes shining with worry as she kept telling people to get out of her way. She could feel someone following her, but she had no time to turn around. Finally, she could see the door opening clearly and her heart dropped.

"CLOSE IT!" She screamed as she ran to the front, "CLOSE THE GATE NOW!"

Princess Hisui whirled her head alongside Lucy and Wendy. The green haired princess giving a look at the woman that was near hysterics.

"Kagome?" Lucy asked her as the woman was pushing her way through the soldiers.

"You cannot go further ma'am!"

"Stop resisting!"

She struggled against their hands, "You don't understand! Close the gate _now!"_

And like a nightmare coming true, a herd of demons poured out of the gate. Centipede, arachnid, troll and goblin like demons. Their red eyes glowed with blood thirst, snarls ripping out of their bodies as their fangs were visible, some even salivating. They were snarling and growling, all of them yearning for human flesh. The princess had her eyes wide in shock and Arcadios could barely raise his arm for the soldiers to go ahead and fight as he pulled her behind him. Lucy, Wendy, and the exceeds quickly went to Kagome who seemed to be in some kind of shock after the demons came out.

"We need to get out of here," She whispered, "We have to go."

It didn't take long for the screams of soldiers perishing to reach their ears. Wendy was shaking and Carla immediately took a hold of her, Happy got Lucy, and Lily got Kagome. The demons were extremely cannibalistic and filled with bloodlust. They were ripping the soldiers apart. They could hear the sounds of broken bones and flesh being tore open. Wendy's nose burned at the scent of so much blood in a matter of seconds. But as they soared through the air to get back to the rest, a strong gush of wind seemed to appear out of nowhere, knocking them all down to the concrete. Just as Kagome tried to get up to check on the others, she felt something wrapping around her ankle and dragged her through the ground. She struggled against the tentacle, but a shot of lightning destroyed it, setting her free.

She felt his arms going around her and picking her up, "What the hell is going on?"

"We need to get everyone out of here!"

"Are those demons?" Gray asked with his eyes wide.

"The army is struggling, we have to help them."

Kagome looked at Erza who seemed ready to go and join the fight, but all of them were then attacked.

" _Dance of Blades!"_

Various blades made out of wind flew through the air directly at them. Laxus strongly had his arms around her as he moved, avoiding them. Erza, Gray, and Gajeel were quick with their reflexes and avoided them as well. Erza's leg was no longer broken but it was still weak, however she was a strong fighter, capable of moving quickly still. Happy did not waste any time as he grabbed Lucy again and Carla got Wendy.

As Laxus landed back on the ground, she removed his arms from her and shouted, "Where are you Kagura?!"

"Oh my," a silk like voice said from above them, "You're gone a year and suddenly grow some fighting spirit?"

Gray looked up to see a beautiful woman with short hair up in a ponytail and vivid red eyes wearing a kimono riding, from what it seemed like, a giant feather.

Kagome's heart was beating against her ears. Had she just said a year? She pushed it to the side as she replied, "How are you here?"

She reached behind her, but she realized she must have dropped her bow as only her arrows were on her back.

Kagura smirked as she jumped down from her feather, landing gracefully on the ground. Gajeel and Laxus crouched, ready to pounce if need be. Erza had a sword appear on her hand quickly and Gray was in a stance with his fist on his palm.

"Thank your soul for leading us here," she said as she eyed those around her, specially the blonde that was growling at her.

"Give me the jewel shards," Kagura demanded at Kagome as she pointed her fan to her, "You do and maybe we'll let some of them live. Maybe. I could always play with their corpses if need be."

Erza requipped to her black wing armor, her blade pointing at Kagura, "You're not going to get near her."

Laxus grabbed Kagome by the arm and put her behind him. His gray eyes were glowing in anger as lightning flickered around his frame.

"I want to see you try demon."

She cocked an eyebrow at him as she curiously smirked at Kagome, "Found another temperamental male didn't you?"

Suddenly, there was a gush of a purple like smoke pouring out of the gate. She immediately recognized it, and if that wasn't a given of what it was, the screams of more soldiers being killed by it confirmed it. Gajeel made a face while Wendy covered her nose. Even Laxus had a face of disgust.

Miasma.

Kagura's smirk widened, "He's here."

 _Oh Kami, no!_

Kagome frantically looked at her friends, "GET BEHIND ME NOW!"

The authoritative and desperate tone of hers made them move without questioning her. They all rushed as her body started to glow pink as she brought out everything she had. Probably a horrible idea since her body was still getting used to having a full soul, but she was desperate. She felt horribly for the soldiers that were still battling the demons, but there was nothing she could do. She saw the knight rushing with the princess as he had heard her, and the moment she knew none of her friends were by there, she created the shield.

"What is that?" Carla asked in horror. She could hear the gurgling screams of the soldiers. Their attempts of gasping for breath as their lungs were filled with the toxic fog were haunting. Wendy turned around as Sabertooth, Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus, Quatro Cerberus, and the rest of Fairy Tail neared them.

"What the hell is going on?" Sting asked as he saw the purple smoke crashing onto Kagome's shield but then fading away.

"She's purifying it," Freed said with realization.

"It's miasma," Kagome said as her arms shook keeping a shield as big as she created, "Poisonous gas. You will be intoxicated if you breathe it in."

Her body suddenly trembled as she could feel his demonic aura approaching. It was _so_ much stronger than the last time she saw him. How could that be? Lucy found herself staring into the dark purple mist.

"Something is approaching…"

Gray nodded, "Do you feel that power?"

Erza shook her head, "I have never felt something like this."

Wendy was pale and shaking. Gajeel was near her that he took her in his arms in hopes to maintain her shaken state in control. He had never seen her so terrified.

"It's not just power," Gajeel growled, "This just feels _evil._ "

The miasma finally retracted and everyone could stare in shock and horror as the bodies of several soldiers were dead on the ground. Some had been ripped apart, blood and guts everywhere. Others had blood coming out of their ears, eyes, nose, and mouth as they had been intoxicated by the miasma. Kagome concentrated more as her body glowed brighter in defense as for what she was feeling.

"Why are you not dropping the shield?" Gajeel asked her as he got next to her.

Happy used his wings as he flew upwards to get a better view, "T-there's someone coming!"

Just then, a tentacle with a sharp edge shot out through the Eclipse Gate and directly hit Kagome's barrier. She gasped at the force of it, but she maintained the shield.

There was a chuckle as he stepped out, the demons opening a path for him.

"Kuh kuh kuh… I can see that Kikyo's soul came back to you. Why don't you drop the shield and come have a little chat with me _my dear Kagome_? For old time's sake."

The vile disgust she felt mixed with a well familiar fear was heavy in her heart. She hated him for everything he had done to Inuyasha, to Kikyo, to Sango, to Miroku, to herself.

She glared at him as she continued to have her hands in front of her, "Do you think I'm stupid enough to listen to you Naraku?"

Wendy gasped and both Gajeel and Laxus growled louder. Evergreen found herself stepping back and both Bickslow's and Freed's eyes hardened.

This was Kagome's enemy from her world.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The half-demon

The tall knight dressed in white armor next to the princess stepped forward, "Just who are you?"

"The door is supposed to be a weapon," The princess added in, trying her best from keeping her voice under control like if she had not seen her soldiers suffer, "How have you used it? Answer us!"

Lucy squinted her eyes as the man continued to walk forward. He was tall, with long black hair, pale skin with blood red eyes. He wore a black and purple kimono and his smile was anything but friendly. She didn't like the look of him. And by Kagome's now glare, he knew her and he wasn't friendly. The name was ringing a tiny bell in her head, but couldn't place it. However, by how Laxus and Gajeel were, they recognized it.

He chuckled darkly, "There are some things that can be easily manipulated. Magic is one of them," his red eyes swept over the Princess as she seemed to quiver under his gaze.

"How?" Kagome all but snapped at him. She doubted it was really because of Kikyo's, technically, her soul that lead him here.

His handsome face turned into a smirk, but as he was going to answer, another voice interrupted them.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Lucy and Wendy gasped. Lucy was afraid the moment she saw him, memories of what previously happened playing in her head.

"That's Rogue!" Wendy exclaimed. The current Rogue's eyes widened as he saw himself with long hair glaring at the other man as he menacingly approached him.

"Where is Natsu?" Lucy demanded as she pushed the fear away.

Fture Rogue wasn't paying attention to them. He was glaring at the man that seemed to have walked out of the door. The door which was supposed to have brought him the control necessary to defeat all mankind and destroy Acnologia. He took in all the demons and the amount of bodies on the ground.

"How dare you use my gate!" Future Rogue angrily shouted, "The gate to the future! _My_ future!"

Naraku boredly looked at him, "Your future you say?"

Future Rogue growled louder, "Dragons were supposed to come out of that gate! How are they not here?!"

The Princess gasped in horror as he was the one that told her to open the gate in the first place.

He chuckled and that seemed to be the trigger a dark fury within Rogue. Just as he raised his arm to attack the other man, he was impaled.

Naraku had raised his arm as it took form of a sharp dark green tentacle and impaled Future Rogue right on his chest. He coughed as his eyes were wide in shock, blood dripping from his mouth. Naraku decided to take it further, as the tentacle that was currently through Rogue's body duplicated. With a quick movement, he tore the body in half, crimson blood flying everywhere as both pieces of Rogue's body fell to the ground in a deep puddle of crimson.

Wendy was horrified, and she screamed in terror. Gajeel shoved her behind him and grabbed Levy as well who looked like she was going to be sick. Lucy could feel the vile rising in her throat, threatening to spill out. Rogue was shaking as he saw the mangled body on the ground. He just saw himself get killed. Sting shook his head as he saw the amount of blood, "What the fuck!"

He retracted the tentacle as it turned back into his arm and hand. He flicked his wrist, blood flying from it, and he smirked as he looked at Kagome.

"Now that the pest is gone, why don't we get down to business. The jewel shards. Now."

Kagome felt the heaviness of the shards that were under her shirt, "Tell me how you got here."

She was trying to hide the disgust and the fear she felt. She knew he would get what he wanted if she showed that.

"She led me here. After I destroyed her body to pieces, the soul took a rather interesting path to get back to its rightful owner. Never would've thought that such a thing existed in the North that I control now."

 _No…_

His eyes seemed to glow as he enjoyed seeing the different emotions on her face, "It's been a year my dear little Kagome. A lot of things have changed. I'm not going to repeat myself."

"What do you mean the North? What did you do to Kouga?!"

Naraku chuckled as he reached for inside his robes. As he pulled his hand out, Kagome felt like the world had fallen on her. In his palm, was almost the jewel fully completed.

"With you being gone, things became _so_ much easier for me. The wolves fell, the cats from the South fell, the dragons of the East fell. All that remains is the West. They're quite stubborn actually, but I'm sure you're familiar with them."

Another tentacle shot out to the shield and Kagome winced. Naraku chuckled, "You're not used to having your full soul my dear. That shield won't last for much longer."

"We need to fight," Erza seriously said as she approached her, "We cannot let those demons continue on," and like a sign, the snarling of the bloodthirsty beings increased.

"Besides, you can't hold this for much longer," Gajeel said to her, "You have to drop it. We'll take care of this."

She shook her head as she sweated profusely, "You don't understand, he has a—"

An angry battle cry interrupted her as a ball of fire with someone in it came at Naraku at full speed. Lucy quickly seemed relieved the moment she saw him, but Kagome cried out, "NATSU DON'T!"

But it was too late. Natsu came in contact but energy crackled around Naraku as his shield intercepted the force of Natsu's attack. The energy shot at Natsu, sending him flying right at Kagome's feet with a nasty pop. Lucy ran out of the safety of Kagome's shield as she kneeled to check him.

"Natsu! Answer me!" she cried as she shook him. He opened his eyes as he winced, "He has a shield…"

Erza's eyes were wide, "Natsu couldn't even crack it."

Another tentacle shot out, directly at Natsu and Lucy since they were not protected by Kagome. However, before it reached them, lightning shot out of the sky, intercepting it and destroying it.

Laxus had stepped out of the shield.

Naraku's red eyes glared as he stared at the blond man, "That actually kind of hurt."

Laxus' face was serious as his eyes flashed dangerously, "I think you need to go back where you came from."

Naraku smirked, "Is that a challenge dragon?"

 _I can't directly hit him, but I can intercept his attacks for her to get away._

"Gajeel. Take her away."

Kagome immediately felt Gajeel wrapping an arm around her waist, "NO! YOU CAN'T!"

The shield was dropped as she struggled against Gajeel. She turned to him to beg, "Let me go!"

Levy was by their side immediately, "It'll be best if we take you away."

"That man wants those shards you have. If i recall, that's a huge no no. We are leaving."

She continued to struggle, but her eyes moved to the unmoving form of Laxus, whose aura was glowing as he challenged Naraku.

"LAXUS!"

He turned his head, and just winked at her. Her heart felt like a thousand pounds in her chest.

Naraku smirked as he raised his arm and commanded, "Kagura, do the honors please."

The woman stepped forward as her beautiful face turned into a dark sinister look. She extended her arm as her fan opened and with much grace and concentration, she moved it in a crescent like shape.

" _Dance of the Dead."_

Lucy gasped in horror as the mangled bodies of the dozens of soldiers that got killed, got up again. Their movements were inhuman, but they all raised their swords as they made way towards the wizards.

Evergreen wanted to throw up, "She's controlling the bodies!"

Erza was the first one to snap out of the disgust as she rushed forward, in her mind asking for forgiveness for slicing them. However, their bodies seemed to re attach again in a foam like way.

Her eyes were wide, "What is this?!"

Natsu grunted in pain as he stood, "Let's go everyone!"

Naraku's body shifted as Laxus lightening increased around him like a dangerous ball. A boned armor graced his body as three green tail like tentacle arms came out of his back. Various large hoop bones leading to a red eye appeared on his chest and two gauntlets with eyes at the wrists and back hand of his arms were shown. His right arm seemed to grow in size as a gigantic spike of diamond armor grew on it.

Several tentacles like thorns shot out of his raised arm towards the struggling form of Kagome as she was being taken away. But Laxus was fast. He intercepted every single one as the sky rumbled loudly.

"You're not going to touch her," the pissed off lightning dragon said with a force that would make anyone shake in fear.

Princess Hisui and Arcadios were confused on why the huge interest on the woman that was forcibly being taken away. He got a hold of Gray, who started to run forward to battle the demons.

"What is going on? We demand an explanation!"

Gray irritably yanked his arm away, "She's not from this world. That's her enemy and is after some shards she has. If he gets them, we can say goodbye to humanity, even in our world."

* * *

Kagome was crying as she was still trying to fight off Gajeel's hold on her. She saw everyone she knew rushing into battle against the demons. Although in reality they were mainly pests, there were _so many._

Lily had caught up to them and Gajeel nodded at him, "Take her! We'll be right behind you!"

But as Lily barely took flight with her, a blade came from the sky and injured his wing. The exceed cried out in pain as both him and Kagome crashed onto the ground. Gajeel and Levy quickly got into a fighting stance as the woman with the red eyes appeared.

"You're not going anywhere. _Dance of the Dragon!"_

Several tornadoes appeared the moment she moved her fan, the tornadoes rushing to them. Gajeel grabbed Levy to protect her as he had seen the wind from the woman resembled blades.

" _SKY DRAGON ROAAAAAR!"_

Kagura's eyes glared as her attack had easily been intercepted by another wind user. Wendy stood, her eyes hard and ready to fight as Carla had her up above them.

"Get Kagome out of here! I'll take care of her!"

Kagura snarled angrily, "You think you can take me on kid? _I am the wind._ "

Wendy's gaze didn't waver, "Try me!"

Gajeel felt proud seeing Wendy ready to take on a demon. She might be little, but she was a dragon slayer nonetheless. With a nod at the bluenette, they started to push their way out as demons started to surround them.

"You sure about this Wendy?" Carla quietly asked her as Kagura got on her feather and started making her way to them.

"I have a feeling if we take her down, her dead army will go down. I have to do this Carla."

The exceed nodded as she became Wendy's wings.

The demon and the dragon soared in the air for an airstrike battle.

Levy carried Lily as the exceed was bleeding from his wound thanks to Kagura. Demons tried blocking their paths, their hissing and growls ringing in their ears. Some quickly launched, bbut Gajeel used his iron club was easily disposing of them.

It was a repeat mode for a while. There were just too many of them.

"I need a bow," Kagome said to herself as she looked around, "Or anything by this point!"

A demon tarantula made its way over to her, and with an angry snarl for what was occurring, she raised her fist as it glowed in purifying energy and punched it, incinerating it in an instant. She ignored the surprised looks from Gajeel and Levy as she continued to defend herself. She had to protect the jewel shards.

She had to.

….

Naraku couldn't help but admit, but the lightning dragon he was fighting was actually a decent opponent. He was very calculating and his attacks actually electrocuted him a little bit. He smirked. Although the man was powerful, there was no way he would be able to penetrate his shield.

Laxus had been joined by Natsu to continue attacking Naraku. Even with the brutal force of fire and lightning, Naraku's shield wasn't deterring.

Lucy and the rest of the guilds were battling the other demons from preventing them leaving and going after the civilians. The princess had told her how to close the gate, but Naraku wasn't far from it, making it difficult from doing so.

Mirajane and Yukino joined the fight soon after. Mira had been in total shock by the amount of bodies of soldiers crumpled on the floor dead. She came into realization that it was indeed, demons attacking, that she soon took form and started to battling them. She caught Laxus and Natsu fighting a man, which she suspected was the cause of the horror that was happening in the garden, that she decided to join them.

Her own demonic aura glowed as she tore a tentacle that Laxus had missed. Naraku smirked as he could feel her aura. His eyes glowed red as he made eye contact with her and she froze.

She started to shake while her eyes were wide, "W-What's happening to me… I… I can't control… my bo...dy…"

Her yellowed clawed arm rose, and a ball of black energy shot at Natsu. He cried out, but as he got up he shouted, "Mira what the hell!"

Her eyes welled up in tears as her body moved without her consent, "I...I…"

Laxus growled, the pieces coming together of what he was doing and he attacked Naraku, " _LIGHTNING DRAGON ROAR!"_

The gigantic shot of lightning hit the shield, with Naraku laughing inside.

"You're a fool dragon. Nothing can penetrate my shield. Why don't you take care of your friend however? It seems he's having a hard time."

Laxus turned around, and sure enough, Mira was going after Natsu, who all he could do was avoid her.

"Mira snap out of it!" Natsu shouted as he avoided another claw of hers, but she had slammed her tail against his ribs.

Laxus roared as he turned back around, "How are you controlling her?!"

"The jewel gives incredible power," he said as he walked forward, "Even a single shard can increase a demon's power. Now imagine an almost complete jewel what it could do for me," he paused as his bloody red eyes glazed over Mira fighting, "I never would've thought that a demon like her was here. How convenient for me."

Laxus snarled again as he decided to hit the shield with his full body. Naraku laughed, mocking him as the shield hissed from the impact but no damage was done to it.

"I...I...I can't...chan...ge… ba...ck!" She all but struggled to say as she was still fighting Natsu. He was torn, because this was his friend being controlled by him. He didn't want to hurt her. Just as she raised her arm to penetrate his middle, a shot of white light came from another direction.

Sting sprinted and kicked her away from Natsu, "I understand she's your guildmate, so I'll do it for ya."

Natsu he held onto his arm on the floor, "Maybe knocking her out will snap her out of his control."

Sting reached with his to help him up, "I'll help you."

…

Lisanna saw what Naraku had done to her sister. She clawed the demons that came near her in her tiger form, "Elfman, he's controlling our sister!"

Elfman, in his best mode, punched a goblin away, "How?!"

Cana attacked five demons with her cards, "There's so many of them!"

Gray slashed others with his ice make Excalibur, "Laxus hasn't been able to land a hit on that guy either!"

Lucy yelped as a demon slashed her arm, "Agh!"

"Lucy!" Erza shouted. She ran as fast as she could and covered her as she held onto her arm, "Are you okay?"

The woman winced, "It got me pretty good."

Evergreen turned around as she felt someone behind her and her eyes widened. A girl with white hair, porcelain skin, and a white dress stood with a mirror in front of her.

"Girl? What are you doing here?"

But Evergreen's gaze landed in the mirror and her body seemed to freeze. She could see herself in it and everything around her was unmoving. Bickslow had just blown away another demon with his totems when he caught on Evergreen's soul floating towards the mirror.

"EVERGREEN!" he yelled in panic, "BARYON FORMATION!"

His puppets recreated a triangle and out was a shot of green energy directly at the small girl. This seemed to have snapped the concentration that it had over Evergreen as the brunette let out a gasp. Bickslow stood in front of her while ripping his helmet off, his eyes glowing a menacing green as he glared at the small emotionless girl.

"Don't look in her mirror. She tried taking your soul."

—

She had found a discarded sword, and with that, she channeled her purifying energy and started killing demons. She ducked, she rolled, she stabbed. She was covered in demon blood by this point.

But there were so many. They kept coming and coming, like an endless sea. She knew the only way for them to go away was by going after Naraku himself. She explained to both Gajeel and Levy that she needed to go back and somehow find a bow. She wasn't sure if she could destroy his shield with it, but it was worth a try.

Gajeel was reluctant, but once he saw Levy opening a path with her Fire Script magic to go back, he started doing the same thing. Lily held on tightly on her shoulder as they all went back. He looked up, and he could see Wendy up in the dark sky. She seemed to be chasing the woman.

—

Laxus cried out when he was slammed against the concrete, creating a crater. He coughed, blood flying out of his mouth.

 _This_ _bastard_ _is_ _such_ _a_ _pussy_ , it growled, _Doesn't_ _have_ _the_ _balls_ _to_ _step_ _out_ _and_ _fight_ _like_ _a_ _man_!

 _You literally just sounded like Elfman._

 _Who_ _fucking_ _cares_ , it snapped, _We_ _need_ _to_ _get_ _him_ out of _that_ _shield!_

He hated the fact that Naraku could actually punch him or kick him if he wanted to, but he could not do anything in exchange. Only whatever Naraku would extend at a certain radius is what he could take out with his lightning.

Sting and Natsu were struggling with Mira, as she was extremely powerful. The poor woman was apologizing and crying as she was trying to fight control of her body.

Eventually, Naraku had enough.

The purple aura around him grew in size and a wave of demonic aura shot out of his body, knocking everyone down. Various tentacles came out of his body and they extended, going directly to where he could feel Kagome. Laxus tried zapping them away, but more tentacles appeared around him to cover him.

A buzzing sounds came from the gate, as a swarm of Saimyosho came out.

Kagome was standing up after being knocked down when she heard them. She took a deep breath, hoping everyone could hear her.

"DON'T LET THEM STING YOU! THEY'RE EXTREMELY POISONOUS!"

Natsu growled as he punched a tentacle out of his way. He took a deep breath and did a fire dragon roar at the swarm in the sky. Some of the other dragon slayers immediately started to do the same thing.

Kagome had sliced a tentacle when one wrapped itself around her wrist where she held the sword, making it drop it. She struggled against it, but two others took a hold of her legs and started dragging her away. She was calling her energy, but after raising the shield of that magnitude before and slicing demons with the sword, her energy was faltering. She could feel the flesh burning of the tentacles, but it wasn't fast enough. As he had her up in the air, another tentacle wrapped around her neck.

Everyone could see her as she was held up fifty feet up in the air.

Laxus went to run to her, but tentacles trapped him away as well.

"Anyone moves and I will snap her neck," His smooth commanding voice echoed in the field. His demons retracted themselves to go back to him. He looked at Laxus, "You try electrocuting me and she's dead."

Her body glowed as she glared at him. His smirk widened, "Now, I will take _that_."

Kagome struggled as another tentacle went up to her and ripped the string around her neck, where the flask with the four jewel shards were. Just as he was bringing it to him as a cruel laugh escaped his lips, a boomerang seemed to appear out of thin air, cutting all the tentacles that were holding Kagome captive and the one that held the flask.

Naraku's face turned up into a snarl as he recognized the weapon, "NO!"

Kagome screamed as she was free falling, but she grunted as she landed in something with feathers.

"Kagome!"

She sat up quickly as her hands grabbed onto the feathers to not fall, "Shippo?!"

Laxus' eyes were wide in shock seeing her now in top of an orange giant bird. Suddenly, sutras were flung, landing on the tentacles that had captured him and burned them away. He quickly took advantage and destroyed all the other tentacles that were preventing anyone from getting to Kagome.

As she was trying to comprehend that Shippo was there, that's when she heard the all familiar snarl of Kirara. She saw with ease a blur of red jumped up from the fire cat and a fang shining with the moonlight as it glowed a scarlet red.

" _WIND SCAR!"_

Those that were near Naraku immediately removed themselves as they could feel the energy coming down from the attack that was coming at high speed. The demons screeched as the attack hit them as they were destroyed in one swing.

Naraku could feel his shield crumbling, eyes seething in anger, "How are _you_ here?!"

The man landed just a few feet away from him, placing the giant fang over his shoulder.

"My bastard of a brother came in handy for once."

Shippo had landed back and in a puff of blue, he turned back to his original self. He jumped on her arms and hugged her neck, "We finally found you!"

Kagome was in shock, as her eyes rose to the back of someone she wasn't sure if she would see again.

"Inuyasha…"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Reunion

His ears twitched as he heard his name coming out of her lips. The way the words sounded and the way he heard that tiny gasp slipping from her lips.

He never thought he would hear her voice again.

He had gone to her time, three days after their fight, just to find out that she had never made it back. Her mother had been distraught. Her grandfather had not taken the news well and he had fallen ill. Souta begged him to find her. He was frantic. He didn't know what to do. The thought of him losing her was heavy on his heart that he didn't give up searching for her.

And he searched. For an entire year him and the others searched what could possibly have happened.

Naraku got word that Kagome was missing, and he made his move.

He had killed Kohaku, claiming he no longer had use for him, and cruelly removed the jewel shard that sustained his life. They almost lost Sango that day too.

Naraku first went after the North, for Kouga's jewel shards. The entire clan had been slaughtered with no mercy and by sheer luck did Kouga survive. But Naraku had gotten the jewel shards thanks to Kagura. Then the dragons of the East fell, something that it even shocked Sesshomaru at great lengths. The slaughter of the South had been the worse as of yet. He had created an army and everything seemed to be not going well for them. If it wasn't for his brother's strength, the West would have fallen as well. Kikyo had joined them, as she was the last known powerful priestess to still be alive, since every known priestess had been slaughtered, even though she was a walking corpse herself. However, with the new strength Naraku possessed with the jewel, only missing the shards Kagome had with her when she disappeared, he had been too much for Kikyo.

He destroyed her in front of them. Inuyasha had felt what control he had left slipping away seeing her mangled body.

They all saw the soul take flight to its owner.

Sesshomaru had seen it and had sliced it with Tenseiga.

Naraku had left soon after to follow it.

Tenseiga harbored Kagome's energy in itself. They traveled back to Kaede's village and used the well and found themselves in Magnolia. They had found a run down building where very faint traces of Kagome were there. A man had been there and told them where everyone had gone off to. It took them a whole day of traveling, but they had made it in time. He had told Kirara to go faster because he could smell the stench of Naraku.

The sight they had seen was overwhelming. Clearly they weren't used to fighting so many demons in a magnitude like this. But once he saw her being captive, they all acted quickly.

Sango and Miroku got off of Kirara, right next to her. Kagome still couldn't believe it, seeing them in front of her.

"We will have our proper reunion," Miroku said as he reached for his back, "But we need to send him back."

He extended his arm, and on his hand, there was a bow.

 _Her bow._

Kagome looked at Sango, who moved her head, "Go to him."

Her hand gripped the bow tightly. Shippo seemed to get the hint as he hopped off her arms and onto Miroku's shoulder. With a determined look, she found herself running to where Inuyasha was. He heard her coming and immediately crouched down for her to get on his back. She jumped, placing her legs tightly on his hips as her heart pounded in her ears. Inuyasha took off into a sprint. Naraku snarled, but as he tried getting them with more tentacles, Inuyasha was avoiding all of them at high speed.

He finally jumped up in the air as Tetsusaiga glowed, Kagome aiming her arrow and calling out what she had left. Naraku's aura increased and they all could see the fight between purple and red as he shot a powerful blast of demonic energy at them.

The wind blew around the Tetsusaiga.

" _BACKLASH WAVE!"_

Kagome let go of her arrow. The demonic energy of Inuyasha's attacked moved in impressive synch around Kagome's purifying energy, merging into one alone force. Naraku's attack couldn't withstand the auras of the arrow and the Backlash Wave. Everyone took cover as best as they could as the attack reached Naraku's body.

The explosion was tremendous and strong winds were blowing violently. Some were coughing for the amount of dust in the air after the attack was over.

Erza was breathing heavily as she took in the damage of the attack that a single sword did, "Did that do it?"

And as the smoke cleared, where Naraku once stood, in his place was a small wooden doll.

Kagura grunted, as she had not expected for them to show up there. Her red eyes landed to a blue cat, who was running away with the flask in his hand. She moved her fan, and a small tornado appeared, making the cat go to her.

"AAAHHH!" Happy screamed as he was being pulled by the wind. Kagura grabbed him by the tail and snatched the flask from him.

"Happy!" Wendy cried out as she ran to him. Kagura scoffed as she saw her previous opponent. She threw Happy at her and then quickly took flight towards the gate. On her way, she got Kanna.

She smirked as she held the flask for all to see, "Now there's no stopping him."

Kagome gasped as Kagura went inside the gate, leaving the remaining demons that were still alive behind. Lucy looked for Yukino, as they now could finally close the gate. As the giant metal doors closed, Sango and Miroku started to battle the demons. Even Shippo used his fox fire to get rid of some. Inuyasha was jumping in the air, slicing the Saimyosho that were still behind. Once the last one fell, Miroku unwrapped his right hand and shouted at those that had joined them to finish them off.

"Everyone get out of the way!"

Gajeel had just sliced a goblin's head off, "What is he doing?"

"Just get behind him!" Kagome quickly said as she ran, grabbing Laxus by the arm to pull him with her.

"Your time has come demons. _Wind tunnel!"_

The wizards' eyes widened as they saw a huge suction like hole coming out of the monk's hand, pulling in all the demons. Some that were still alive tried getting away, but the force of the wind was too strong for them. They all could hear the loud screeching from them. As the last demon was suctioned in, Miroku grabbed the beaded rosary and wrapped it around his hand to close it.

Makarov was breathing heavily as the first rays of dawn breaking came through the garden. The amount of bodies on the floor, demonic or human, was unbelievable. The battle had not felt it lasted so long. In a matter of hours, a third of the Royal Army was slaughtered.

Kagome was the first one to walk towards the puppet, "I thought it was him…"

Inuyasha growled angrily as he put Tetsusaiga away, "Goddam coward."

Kagome turned around, her eyes wide in disbelief, "Inuyasha..."

She didn't think twice as she ran to him, jumping in his arms. He met her half way and immediately held her close to him, wrapping one arm around her waist and the other one behind her neck.

"I never thought I would see you again," he whispered against her ear.

She choked out a laugh, "I was supposed to be home."

He pulled away to see her teary eyed looking at him, "See what happens when you don't listen to me stupid."

And Levy was the only one to notice the distraught look that appeared in Laxus' eyes as he looked at Kagome, who was beaming brightly, looking at the man that was still holding her.

* * *

The entire morning was spent with burning off the carcasses of the dead demons that didn't get sucked by Miroku's wind tunnel, tending to the injured, and gathering the dead bodies of those that didn't make it. It had been a bloody battle. The soldiers didn't die with honor. They were ripped apart, with no mercy behind the attacks.

Mirajane could not look at anyone in the eye yet. She couldn't believe that she had been so easily manipulated. The power had been too strong. She had apologized to Natsu and Sting over and over again. She felt horrible because she could've killed them. Sango caught some of the stuff the woman was saying to her siblings, and she decided to approach her.

"I was once manipulated and controlled by him," Sango said softly. Mirajane brought the blanket around her shoulders closer to her, with Lisanna having an arm around her, as she looked at the woman, "R-Really?"

She nodded, "He controlled my brother, slaughtered our village, and still continued to control his dead body. That's who he is. A cruel manipulator. But look at those in front of you. They don't recent you. Let them give you strength to overcome it. You didn't kill anyone and your friends understand."

Natsu caught what the other woman was telling Mira and practically jumped on the take over mage, putting an arm around her, "I'm not mad at you! If anything, it finally gave me the opportunity to fight you!"

The enthusiasm in Natsu's voice made her laugh as she wiped a tear that was falling. She looked at the other woman and smiled gratefully, "Thank you."

Lisanna was curiously looking at the giant boomerang, "How heavy is it?"

Sango smiled politely as she removed it from her back, "Here."

Lisanna got up and took a hold of it, but found herself not being able to pick it up, "Woah!"

Elfman grabbed it and even _he_ struggled a bit, "That's one manly weapon!"

"It's made out of demon bones."

Natsu was staring at it wide eyed, "That is so cool!"

Lucy heard his enthusiasm from where she was, "She kind of reminds me of Erza."

Wendy nodded, "She's really pretty."

"You wouldn't think she's suffered by the way she smiles."

They both turned to see Kagome looking fondly at the other woman. The amount of love and respect she held for her was obvious.

However, they noticed the way her smile fell and her eye started to twitch. With quick reflexes, she turned around and flipped Miroku over her shoulder. The monk landed with a loud thud on his back. He groaned at the force as he was scrunching his eyes.

He groaned as he got up, "Kami, Kagome. Where did you learn how to do that?"

Kagome grinned at him, "Bet you'll think twice from trying to touch me."

"I've told you this hand is cursed."

She rolled her eyes. Lucy was looking at Miroku aghast, "Aren't you supposed to be a monk?!"

"This monk appreciates the beauty that was blessed upon this world."

Kagome facepalmed herself, "Don't let Sango catch you being a pervert with the girls here."

He visibly paled and made a hasty retreat back to Sango, where Natsu was attempting to throw her boomerang but did not have the balance required to do so.

Laxus had been watching everything from a distance with his arms crossed. He could see the new happiness within her as she smiled to the small fox demon that came running up to her. He had never seen her smile so brightly. He sighed again, unsure on how to feel. He had caught the glares Inuyasha had sent his way when they were getting rid of the bodies of the demons. He could only take a guess, but he wasn't about to start up a fight for Kagome's sake.

Tents were put up for all the other guilds that participated in the games to tend to their injure or catch some rest. Blue Pegasus had been the primary one sustaining various injuries against them, so Mermaid Heel had offered to help them out with their bandages and such.

Gajeel found Laxus leaning against a tree. He wasn't blind. He could make out what the lightning dragon was thinking now that Kagome's friends were there. Specially with the half-demon.

A while back, he had hated Laxus' guts. Not just for the beating he gave him before Fantasia, but for attempting to attack Levy who had just been an innocent bystander. He respected his power, because that was something he couldn't deny. But personality wise, he didn't like him.

That is, until Laxus saved the rest from Hades' clutches. He started to regain more respect for him, even so when they all went to attack Acnologia. That's when he came to the realization that he was no one to judge someone's past and actions. It made him a hypocrite. He had beaten Shadow Gear and beat Lucy senselessly.

Now, he thought of Laxus as an asshole, but he was alright.

"Your grandfather wants to talk to some of us," Gajeel said as he approached the taller man. Laxus heard him, but his eyes weren't looking at him. Gajeel turned around to see Kagome arguing with Inuyasha, something along the lines of leaving the kit alone that was in her arms.

"Let's go then."

Team Natsu, the Thunder Legion, Gajeel, Juvia, Mirajane, Levy, and the exceeds were brought inside the tent with the Master to speak to Kagome and her friends. There were some questions that needed answers, and in this case, some privacy was necessary. Freed had made sure that no one else would hear their conversation.

"So that was a puppet?" Erza asked seriously as she crossed her arms. It didn't sit well with her seeing that the enemy that came across those doors had just been a fake. How much powerful was he really?

"That fucking bastard hardly ever has the balls to appear in a fight," Inuyasha angrily spat out, "And now that _piece of shit_ has the entire fucking jewel!" he whirled around, his heated gaze landing on Kagome, "Why would you have it around your neck in the first place?" He snapped.

Levy blinked. That was completely different from the previous reunion and the way he had talked to her. Laxus and Gajeel were behind her and she was pretty sure she heard Laxus growling.

Lucy admired Kagome's patience as she replied calmly, "For three years I've done it. Until now you have a problem with it?"

That wasn't the answer he had been expecting as he raised his voice, "That's not the fucking point Kagome!"

Makarov was next to Miroku as he took a step forward, in hopes of calming down the young man that was on Kagome's face. Gray and Natsu had serious looks in their faces by the way Inuyasha was talking to her. They had come to like the woman and she became part of their guild, she was their family now too.

Miroku turned to the small man, "I would advise to stay clear."

Sango sighed as she scratched Kirara who was on her shoulder, "She can handle him."

"Maybe you should have stayed back like I fucking told you so! Then we wouldn't be going through this!"

Her blue eyes were filled with anger as her patience was wearing off, "How was I supposed to know this was going to happen!"

"You're supposed to be smart! Isn't that why you go to that fucking place in the first place? You don't know what he's done for the past year!" he took a step forward.

"Clearly I am the smart one if not you would have been dead a long time ago! Besides, it has only been three months for me!"

"We are all about to be dead because you were _so_ stupid to have the shards in such an obvious place!"

Kagome found herself being pushed back by none other than Laxus, who was glaring viciously at Inuyasha.

"You need to back off."

Inuyasha's golden eyes were blazing, "You need to get out of my fucking face dragon."

Laxus' glare didn't waver, "You need to get out of her face."

And then it all came together to him immediately. He took in the stance the blonde had in front of her and the memory of his scent on her made him snap as his angry eyes landed on her face.

"So—while countless have died in our world, you are here living a happy fucking life and you're whoring around!"

Everyone that was there gasped at the hostility of his words. Laxus raised his fist, ready to make Inuyasha swallow his words.

"SIT!"

Laxus didn't come in contact with his face, but thin air as Inuyasha slammed onto the ground.

Kagome pushed past Laxus and kneeled in front of Inuyasha, "I'm going to say this once. I will not explain myself again. I hear a word from you and I will say _it_."

There was a muffled reply, "Sit."

The crater became deeper as he groaned.

"I got here a little over three months ago. I have no clue why I got here in the first place. I almost drowned but I was lucky Laxus and the others found me. They sheltered me, fed me, clothed me, protected me as I tried figuring it out what was going on. I did try going back, but that well wouldn't let me go back. We hoped that maybe, in this castle's library after winning the games, we would find out what's going on. My friend Levy has been working hard to translate a book. Don't take me for fucking granted that I wasn't trying to go back."

She got up as she dusted her her knees as her expression was without emotion, "Sit. That's for calling me a whore."

She was about to walk out of the tent, when Happy called out her name, "Kagome."

She sighed as she turned around, "Not now Happy…"

He was flying towards her, "When that wind user got the shards from me, I was able to sneak one out. I don't think she noticed."

And long and behold, there was a small shard on Happy's paw. Sango and Miroku sighed in relief while Kagome gratefully hugged the exceed.

"I'm surprised I didn't sense it," she said breathlessly as she looked at it.

"You used too much of your energy," Evergreen said to her, "Maybe your powers are taking time to replenish."

"And you're not used to having a full soul either," Miroku said knowingly, "It's going to take some time."

Gray was still looking at the crater where Inuyasha laid and then at the others, "How strong is Naraku then? If that was a puppet…" He trailed off, not sure how to continue on and hoping that would lessen the tension. Seeing the faces of his team he could tell they were wondering the same thing.

Sango looked at Inuyasha as well and moved her head so everyone could step outside to give Kagome privacy with him.

Laxus was unsure of leaving her alone, but from what he saw, she could take care of herself.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'll be outside."

Her eyes were wide as she nodded at him. Freed walked up to her, "We will talk with your friends to know more of the situation."

"Thank you Freed," she said softly. And as they walked out, Inuyasha started to get up.

She sighed, "We need to talk."

…

Just as they were outside, Sango's brown eyes were skeptical looking at Laxus, "Are you the one that found her?"

He wasn't phased by her look at all as he simply replied, "Yes."

She kept staring at him, but then walked forward and extended her hand, "Thank you. She's like a sister to me. We have been deeply worried about her for a year."

He looked at her hand and took it. She gripped it tightly and he nodded at her, "It was no problem."

Juvia walked up to them, "For you it's been a year?"

Sango sighed as Shippo jumped on her shoulder to answer, "Yeah. We have been trying to figure out what happened to her."

"It's a bloodbath back home," Miroku said tiredly, "Him growing in power has made it more difficult for everyone. We have taken shelter in the West, the lands of Inuyasha's brother. We've been at war for the past three months, but even with the two dog demons pairing up, it isn't enough."

"Kagome is our last hope," Sango said.

Miroku shook his head as he disagreed, "I now have my doubts. He basically has the whole jewel. Those three shards that Kagura took are going to increase his power more. Even with Kagome back with us… I'm not sure if we'll win without losing ourselves."

"We'll go and kick his arachnid butt!" Natsu exclaimed loudly as he brought his fists together, "Let me at him and your problem will be solved!"

Lucy gave him a look, "You couldn't even get through his barrier."

"No one could," Erza said with a shake of her head, "Just Inuyasha seemed capable enough with his sword."

"It looked like a raggedy old thing when he put it away," Gajeel commented as he crossed his arms.

"The fang belonged to his father," Miroku said, "Over time, he's been capable of mastering it and acquiring new skills. One of them is barriers."

"Puppet or not, he seemed rather alarmed when Inuyasha and Kagome were going after him," Carla pointed out from her place in Wendy's arms.

Sango shook her head as a small smile appeared on her face, "Fights or not, those two together have brought down dangerous demons. Their powers combined can be a force to be reckoned with."

Shippo was curiously looking at Happy and Carla as the question he had been wondering finally slipped out, "What are you?"

Laxus put his hands in his pockets and didn't say anything. His inner dragon was going on a rant, about leaving Kagome alone inside with the half-demon. However he had to let her get through it alone. He just hoped she wouldn't forget about her new family now that they were back.

Makarov had a very serious look on his face, "Tell us everything about this man. Kagome never really went into full details. Just that he was a very dangerous demon."

Miroku shook his head, "Half. He's a half-demon. And, well…"

And like that, the rest found out the whole story of Naraku.

…

She waited for him to pull himself together after getting sat. He had forgotten how much that shit hurt. He dusted himself, but as he looked up, he found Kagome barely holding in her tears.

He started to panic, "Woah, why are you crying?!"

"Because of you!" she angrily shouted. She could care less if the others heard, "I can't believe you. For once can you not be an asshole?"

His ears flattened against his skull, "Keh," he crossed his arms and looked to the side.

She didn't remove her gaze from his form, "I tried getting back. I couldn't. I cried for you because I missed you, but you go ahead and call me a whore instead."

His eyes flashed something she couldn't recognize as he scoffed, "I could smell him on you. How can you stand in front of me and tell me you searched to get back to us, to me, and you smell like a fucking dragon?"

He had no clue how those words seemed to pierce her. She felt like her world crashed around her and she was drowning again in the well.

Her eyes were wide and filled with emotion as a look of distraught graced her face, "Is it that hard to believe that _maybe_ somebody else could be interested in me?"

"That is not—"

"Yes, yes it is. And you know what, I'm just going to say it. I do have something with him. Maybe even falling for him. He likes me for who I am. He doesn't compare me to some reincarnation. I'm just Kagome."

He was staring wide eyed at her but she continued, "I _loved_ you and you _knew_. You cannot stand there and tell me that you didn't know Inuyasha. For three years I gave you my life. But so many freaking times you left to search for Kikyo," a tear fell down, "Was I supposed to continue waiting until she was gone for you to make a decision? That's not fair. I deserve to be happy. Even if it's just for a _tiny_ bit. You don't have to beg me to go back and finish what was started. I know I have to. _He_ knows as well and has not made an attempt to stop me from doing so because he actually gets it."

They stood there in complete silence for who knows how long. Surprisingly, it was him that broke as his voice was the softest she had ever heard, "I was worried about you."

She sighed as he walked up to her and hugged her again, which she returned, "I know. But I'm okay. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that for you it's been a year."

He inhaled her scent again and he felt his throat growing hot.

"We need to go soon. Sesshomaru said he could only keep the link open for a week."

She pulled back as she raised an eyebrow at him, "You're actually calling him by his name?"

"He's the reason why I'm here. Once we are back he's going back to being bastard."

She laughed as she wiped her tears. He was still close to her and she poked him, "Hey," his eyes moved to her, "I still care for you. You're my best friend."

"I know."

As they stepped outside, they were met with some argument amongst the guild with their group. Sango kept shaking her head, Miroku looked thoughtful, and Shippo was running around with Happy.

"What the hell is going on?" Inuyasha brashly asked as he crossed his arms.

Sango looked relieved when Kagome was back, "Tell them how it's a horrible idea for them to come with us. It is not their fight."

Kagome looked beyond confused as her eyes went to her guild, "Wait what?"

Makarov looked serious, "As Master of Fairy Tail and you being an honorary member, I cannot allow one of my children to head into such a bloody battle on your own. A team will go with you."

Kagome's eyes widened, "But there's no guarantee they will be able to come back!"

"Those that go with you are aware that will be a risk they will have to take."

Levy walked up to Kagome, "You need the numbers. With him controlling those frontiers you're going to need more people to fight."

"Yo," Laxus said as he looked at Inuyasha. The half-demon suppressed the growl that wanted to come out of his lips, "What?"

"How many of you are there? Demon wise to fight him."

A look of irritation passed through Inuyasha's face as he tried to remember, "Demons strong enough? Me and my brother. A wolf named Kouga and a wolf named Ayame. They are the last wolves from what I know. She escaped just in time before the slaughter started. Besides Miroku and Sango, we've been the only ones to get halfway through. One time we did reach him and I destroyed his shield."

"By the time we do reach a halfway point," Miroku intervened, "Our energy isn't at its best."

"Even with Naraku's shield destroyed by Inuyasha, it's not enough," Sango said, "We need a priestess, which is you Kagome. Sesshomaru destroyed the body when Inuyasha got rid of the shield, but he's always able to come back because he's not purified."

"Who's in his rank?" Erza asked.

"Kagura, which I understand Wendy fought," Miroku said as he looked at the small girl, "I'm not sure if she was there. He has another incarnation, a child with white hair named Kanna."

Bickslow nodded, "Yeah she was there. She tried taking Evergreen's soul. My seith magic protected me from taking my soul, as I am capable of controlling souls if need be."

Inuyasha sighed, "He revived the Band of Seven."

Kagome gasped, "How? They need jewel shards and we killed them last time."

"He has a new incarnation," Sango said, "Shinda Joo, Queen of the Dead."

Gray shook his head, "She sounds lovely."

"Sesshomaru and Inuyasha have been able to kill three, but Bankotsu, Renkotsu, Jakotsu… and Mukotsu remain," Miroku finished saying, looking at Kagome after saying the last name.

She grew pale, "How is _he_ alive still?"

"Is he that dangerous?" Wendy asked Kagome as the woman looked like she was going to be sick. Lucy also looked concerned as she looked at her.

Kagome swallowed, "Not necessarily… it's just…"

"The last time we faced him, he attempted to take Kagome as his," Sango cautiously said, "If it wasn't for Sesshomaru arriving, me and Miroku would have been dead… and I can't imagine Kagome's fate."

 _We are fucking going and we are going to rip that bastard's throat out._

Laxus found himself wholeheartedly agreeing with it.

"I will think carefully on who will go. This is not up for a discussion Kagome. You need the help, you need the numbers."

She couldn't find herself to argue with Makarov. His tone left no room for argument.

"Count me and Lily in," Gajeel said as he threw a smirk at Kagome, "I've always wanted to go demon hunting."

The black exceed smiled at Kagome, "We have your back."

"It can't be just anyone either," Freed said, "The last thing we need is leaving the guild unprotected again."

"Well if you want to go I'm not going to stop you," Inuyasha gruffly said, "But that needs to be figured out already. We have to be back before the week is over."

Kagome sighed heavily as she tuned out the conversations that broke around her. This was too much.

If Happy hadn't been quick enough to get a hold of a shard, then there was nothing that they could do. But now everyone wanted to join in a battle that wasn't theirs.

Suddenly, she felt arms wrapping around herself and a familiar buzzing sensation as she teleported away.

Inuyasha's eyes were wide as the lightning dragon had quickly moved and took her away. He growled and without a word, he left.

Sango and Miroku were confused at the sudden display and Lucy nervously laughed, "Well we should probably tell you what's been going on with her."

Evergreen nodded, "Oh yeah…"

...

Back with Kagome, she found herself at the top of the clock tower in Crocus. She could see the entire city from where she stood and gasped at its beauty. The morning light seemed to be dissolving the horror of the previous night. It seemed that either way, Crocus was going to suffer regardless if Kagome would be in their world or not.

"So that's where your insecurity comes from? Because you were always second to him?"

She winced as she took in the tone of his voice. He wasn't happy about it.

She nervously laughed as she scratched the back of her head, "You heard?"

He wasn't amused as he crossed his arms and gave her a look. She sighed. Now it was going to be a long conversation with him. However, he caught her off guard when he suddenly pulled her in his arms. He breathed in, and he tried his best to not lash out as he could smell Inuyasha on her.

"Don't say anything. I heard. It makes sense. If that were me I would feel the same way."

She snuggled against his chest, "It's not easy to admit when you're rejected because of your dead ancestor."

"I don't want to hear any arguing with you, but I'm going."

She shook her head, "What if you can't get back…You _just_ got reinstated into the guild..."

"Then I'll make a life there. But I'm not leaving you Kagome."

The warmth she felt for him seemed to spread and hug her like plush blanket. Her heart was beating loudly in her ears and she found herself growing red. He was putting her first, risking on not being back in his guild after being reinstated just to be with her, to help her.

To be by her side.

"I'm not putting any faith on that dog to keep you safe. I'm going and that's final."

She shook her head, "Not you too! I've heard that so many times from Kouga before."

He rolled his eyes as he bent down and kissed her harshly. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. It wasn't necessary for him to explain why he was kissing her the way he was. If he heard everything like he said he did, he needed some reassurance as well. Inuyasha would always be a part of her life. He had been her protector for three years.

But the man holding her tightly and kissing her with a desire that was making her knees buckle was becoming her future.

Oh indeed, she was falling hard for him.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I know it's been about four months since my last update and I am so sorry for the wait. My life made a complete turn at the beginning of the year. So many changes happening at once. But now I am back! I'm not sure how often I'll be posting the chapters, but I can say that I am not taking this long to update again.

Thank you so much for all of your wonderful reviews. They seriously mean a lot. I did get a few from unhappy guests. I'm sorry that it is not what you expected or how you would have done it. Maybe you could give it a try! In no way or form I'm trying to downplay any of the characters from either fandom, but I do have to portray certain things in order to show the power from each side. As for Kagome, I didn't want her to be the damsel in distress anymore. I wanted her to be strong in many aspects. She still has a lot to learn, but she will not be useless in my story.

Now here I give you, the next chapter.

Chapter 15: The Chosen

"Um… Kagome."

"... Yeah Shippo?"

"Do they always get like this?"

Kagome sighed as she saw a chair flying across the guild hall. The music was loud and food and alcohol was everywhere as the entire guild celebrated.

A grin slowly appeared in her face as the ruckus continued, "Yup."

Miroku sipped his beer as his eyes moved, trying to catch all the movements that were going on, "They sure know how to party."

Her grin turned into a smile as she looked at Miroku, "Oh yeah they do."

Two days after the incident with the Eclipse Gate and much more explaining to the King and the other guilds, Fairy Tail was finally back in Magnolia. They had been greeted with so much vigor and excitement as a parade was immediately thrown for them. The King had been unhappy, since his plan was to throw a party in celebration, but since Kagome and the rest had explained the urgency of returning to Magnolia, the King understood and accepted Makarov's apology for not joining the festivities.

She continued eating her food at their spot on the table as she continued to observing the chaos around her. Everyone seemed so happy. Long were gone the looks of disappointment and sadness when she had first met them. Winning the games had been exactly what they needed. One of the biggest things she would always remember, would be the faces of everyone in the guild for the surprise of seeing that the entire town pitched in and re built the guild hall in the outskirts of the city. It was bigger, with strong stone walls, more rooms, an infirmary, and even an inside pool as well. Her smile faltered slightly, as a bittersweet taste came to her as she soon was going to be leaving this life behind.

Makarov had demanded a party to be immediately be thrown to celebrate Fairy Tail's success in the Grand Magic Games and to also commemorate the group that would be setting off to travel to the Feudal Era with Kagome and her group.

Apparently he already had the team in mind. She still wasn't okay with that at all. It had created a private argument between herself and Laxus the day before they arrived to Magnolia. She had tried her best to not pick a fight with him after he had told her he was going when he took her away from the others, but the fact she caught him speaking to Freed in regards of what to do if he didn't come back. Just hearing him saying what to do with his place and his things made her blood boil. He had picked up on her temper, and he had taken her away for her to lash out.

She had been angry to the point that tears were shed. In her angry rant, she had stupidly punched a tree, hurting her hand in the process, making her cry more. Laxus had felt horribly for that and immediately took her back so Wendy could fix her hand. And that also caused a fight the moment Inuyasha smelt the blood coming out of her knuckles. Just as Inuyasha was close on Laxus, Kagome had sat him as Wendy fixed her hand.

The dog demon had been pouting since then.

Miroku, Sango, Kirara, and Shippo had taken well to the members of the guild. Gray, Freed, and Bickslow had made Miroku feel welcomed. Erza enjoyed having conversations with Sango in regards of their different battle strategies with Wendy happily chiming in at times. Evergreen surprisingly had taken a huge liking on Shippo alongside Juvia and Lisanna. The women would gush at how adorable he was and he would absorb the attention and do small magic tricks for them.

However, it was still getting some time for Inuyasha to get used to them, and it wasn't just because of the constant tense vibe between him and Laxus. The man was very withdrawn and usually was found being further away from everyone before arriving to Magnolia. Kagome would try talking to him, but he would always find a way to avoid the conversation. He knew her too well. He knew she would ask about Kikyo and in all reality, that was something he did not want to indulge in any time soon.

So he would linger back and watch her. He couldn't even be surprised at the fact that _everyone_ was smitten by her. Anyone that would talk to her, she would give them her undivided attention. She would smile and laugh. Those that had been injured in any form, even just a small scratch, she would be concerned over. Everyone adored her and everyone wanted to be around her.

Because that's who she was. Simply Kagome that would make anyone around her follow her like a moth to the light.

A part of him would claw the moment he would see her near the dragon. It would _irk_ him. He couldn't stand him. In his head, the blonde was too much of an asshole for her. Even if that made _him_ look like a hypocrite. He made his decision and _that_ decision made him lose her. She used to look at him like the way she would look at the other man, before he screwed everything up, and it was sad to say, that her eyes would shine brighter when she would look at _him_ than what they ever did with him.

He really hated himself for a lot of things and one of them was losing her.

Kagome held a laugh as she saw the drunk of the guild making her way over to her and Sango. It seemed to have snapped her out of that somber like state she had been slowly falling into.

Cana put her arms around her shy friend, "Come on girl! Drink up!" she shoved a glass of wine at the flustered woman.

Sango, not used to women to show so much skin and be so brash, was stuttering.

"Oh-I don't-"

"Girl you're about to go back and kick some demon ass, loosen up!"

Inuyasha shook his head at the drunk woman, but the motion made his eyes land on the bar where a couple of beers were sitting, waiting for another member to grab them and drink them. Elfman caught Inuyasha's look and soon put an arm around him as he shouted, "You don't need beer, you need a manly drink! Mira, bring the man the hard stuff!"

Inuyasha tried prying off Elfman's arm around him, but the man was pretty strong. He couldn't do it unless he had intentions of hurting him. Which he knew if he did, he would be sat multiple times and that was something he didn't want.

The beautiful take over mage happily complied to her brother's request and served Inuyasha a drink. Of what? He wasn't sure. It was something he never smelt before, but the hot feel of his throat after taking a swig was rather pleasant. He decided to stick around Elfman as the man seemed to have good taste on drinks.

As the party went on, Natsu and Lucy eventually made conversation with Miroku. They had been impressed with his wind tunnel and wanted to know more about it. Natsu had commented it smelled different, but couldn't describe how.

"Where do they go?" Lucy asked him as she curiously stared at his hand.

Miroku eyed his hand, "I have been told that it's probably a portal to hell. However I am not sure," His eyes went to Kagome who was laughing at one of Shippo's antics, "Funny enough, the first time we met I almost suctioned her in."

"That's because she has a knack of putting herself in dangerous situations," Inuyasha commented as he wasn't far from Miroku when he heard him.

Miroku made a face as he tried to come up with something to defend his dear friend, but the more he thought, was coming up empty.

He decided to sip his drink as he muttered, "...Honestly I can't argue with that."

That's when Kagome made her way over with Shippo on her shoulder, "Are you guys talking about me?" Her eyes suspiciously looking in between the two men.

Lucy said no.

Inuyasha said yes without missing a beat.

He took another swig of the drink. He could blame it on the alcohol if he got her _too_ mad.

"We are going about how many times we've had to save your ass because you don't listen."

Kagome gawked at him and then at Miroku, "Do you think so?"

He gave her an apologetic look, "You have been kidnapped numerous times."

Inuyasha was becoming more bold as he counted off with his fingers, "The bandits when we first met, thunder brothers, Urasue, Miroku kidnapped you, Kouga, Naraku, Mukotsu… I feel like I'm missing some."

Kagome's face was become redder and redder after each incident Inuyasha would mention like if he was talking about the weather. Lucy wasn't sure if it was out of embarrassment or because she was furious.

"And I thought Lucy got kidnapped a lot!"

The fire slayer got a smack on the head for that one.

At the table where the Thunder Legion sat with surprisingly Gajeel, Levy, and Lily, Laxus started to cough after hearing how many times Kagome had been in trouble. Gajeel snorted loudly as he took a bite out of his burger.

"Inuyasha," She said warningly as she was trying to have control over her face. Miroku caught the tone in her voice that he quickly removed the cup from Inuyasha's hand, "Sit."

He yelped as his face hit the ground first.

Kagome shook her head as her and Shippo made their way to the table where Laxus and the rest were at. She sat across from him, still red on the face. She caught the look Laxus was giving her as he drank his beer and she quickly gave him a look, "Do not say anything."

He blinked, an innocent look appearing on his face.

He sipped his drink, "I have no clue what you're talking about."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Really?"

Shippo hopped off her shoulder and walked across the table, going directly towards Laxus who was now eyeing the kit wearily as he drank his beer.

"So now that I have you in front of me," Shippo said, his voice trying to hold an authoritative tone as he puffed his chest, " _You're_ the one that has laid an intended claim on my mom."

Laxus immediately spat out his drink to his right, right where Bickslow was sitting enjoying his food.

Gajeel barked out a loud laugh as he saw the confused look on Laxus' face and how he was trying to fight off the blush in his face. Or the urge to pummel the kid. Kagome was no better as she sputtered, "S-Ship-po!"

Laxus wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and then glared at the kid, "What the hell are you talking about kid?"

Shippo tilted his head, "The way your scent is all over her. It's what we call a scent claim. Any males that smell her will know she has an intended," he then turned to Levy, "She has a scent claim mark too but it isn't as strong as Kagome's yet."

 _Now_ it was Gajeel's turn to blush furiously and not being able to look at Levy in the eye as she was red as well. Lily walked up to Shippo, ignoring the embarrassed looks of the others and Bickslow's laughter who got over the fact that Laxus spat on him, "How can you tell?"

Shippo shrugged his shoulders, "I can just smell it. You can't?"

Lily thought about it, "I can just smell the scents, but I didn't know it was to claim them," he turned to Gajeel, "Is that a dragon thing?"

"What's a dragon thing?" Erza asked as she came to sit with them, strawberry cake on hand.

Laxus groaned and Gajeel slightly paled now having Titania on the table. They were well aware of her way thinking regarding the innocence of women. He _really_ didn't want to talk about it in front of Levy, specially now with Erza there. All he wanted was get up and leave the guild. He had been hoping no one would notice. Natsu was just too stupid in his opinion, Laxus got the dragon traits from the lacrima but he didn't think he would know anything and from the sounds of it, he had done it without realizing. And then Wendy was too young that he doubted her mother had talked to her about dragon courting.

But Levy, who was sitting next to him, poked him on the side. She was blushing as she voiced her question, "Can you explain?"

He really wanted to punch the fox demon since hearing Levy's soft voice was preventing him from avoiding the question.

"I don't know what you're talking about kid," Laxus finally said as he ignored the other slayer's predicament, "But I haven't done shit."

Shippo blinked twice, "Wow. And here I hoped you were smarter than Inuyasha."

"Shippo!"

Laxus' eye twitch, "You little-"

"Now gather around everyone! Before the party continues I must reveal the team that will be traveling with Kagome and the rest of her friends in order to destroy a despicable enemy!"

Gray snorted as he heard the old man, "More like he wants to say it before he's too drunk to do so."

Shippo took advantage of the distraction and fled to go to Kirara, who currently had Asuka on her back with the child laughing in pure bliss.

Everyone got up and made their way towards the bar where the Master stood. "Now, I have thought about this long and carefully since we cannot leave our own guild unprotected. If I call your name, you have the right to withdraw yourself from the mission since there _is_ a risk that you will not be able to come back once you go through the well."

Kagome clenched her jaw as she could hear the murmurs. If it was up to her, _no one_ would be joining them.

"The first that I'm calling and that will be leader of this team is my grandson, Laxus."

He made eye contact with his grandfather as he nodded once, "I accept."

"The next is Gajeel."

The iron slayer smirked as he crossed his arms, "Sign me up."

Makarov looked at Lily, "Do you wish to accompany him?"

"Where my partner goes, I go."

Makarov accepted his answer as he looked at the rest, "Levy."

The bluenette gasped, "M-Me Master?"

"Your intelligence will be crucial to strategize against their enemy. Do not see yourself as not being physical strong for the task. The strength comes from the heart."

She could hear Jet and Droy complaining that she shouldn't go, but one look at Kagome, someone who she's become close to and nodded, "I accept."

The old man nodded, "Wendy."

Kagome immediately protested, "No. Not her."

Miroku was reluctant, "A war is no place for a child. The amount of violence and body we have seen will give her nightmares for weeks."

Sango nodded, "I agree. She shouldn't have to see that."

Inuyasha had his arms crossed as he looked at the small girl, "Let her come."

Kagome gasped, whirling around "Inuyasha!"

He rolled his eyes, "How is that any different than bringing the runt along with us? The girl showed she can fight. More useful than the fur ball you're always carrying around."

Wendy could feel everyone's eyes on her as ultimately, it was her decision if she wanted to accept or not. She didn't know Inuyasha well, as they've hardly exchanged words, but she couldn't help but have a boost of confidence on how a stranger said she could indeed fight and hold her own. Carla was in her arms, her wide eyes waiting for her to make her decision.

She was nervous nonetheless. Kagome had explained that the life in the Feudal Era was rough. War and death. But just like the rest, she couldn't stand back and let innocent people die. Carla wasn't even objecting at the idea. She was letting _her_ make the decision, not intending to interfere.

Because Carla was seeing her more as a young blooming woman than a little girl. After Cait Shelter and the countless enemies they had fought together, Wendy had been maturing. The way she had jumped in to battle the wind user just proved with more reason that indeed, Wendy was growing up and was no longer that scared little girl.

Wendy raised her head and made eye contact with the master, and with a tone so strong for her small age, she answered.

"I will go."

Carla could feel her heart swelling with pride, "And so will I."

And even if she wasn't comfortable with the idea because of the risks, Erza felt proud of her as well.

Makarov smiles, "And that is the team that will be going."

Immediately Natsu spoke up, "How come I don't get to go?!"

"Or me?" Gray voiced, clearly unhappy.

Makarov had seen the complaints coming from a mile away, "We cannot have a repeat of Tenrou Island and have all the fire power leave. Having Laxus and Gajeel leave will put a strain on our forces, and that's why I need the rest of you here. If an enemy were to come along while they're gone, we can hold our ground."

The stern tone in his voice left no room for arguments. Although both mages continued pouting, they still respected the decision of the Master.

Slowly the small circle that had formed started to scatter around as everyone continued on with the party. Laxus noticed the look in Mira's eyes as he started to make his way to his table again. He knew her too well. After all, they had grown up together. He went over to her, placing a large hand on her shoulder and gave a squeeze.

"Don't look sad. I'll get some revenge for you."

Her eyes shined as she looked at him, "Is it that obvious?"

"I know you too well. Don't worry. I know what he did to you and I'm going to make him pay."

And the sadness that had been reflecting off her eyes, was instantly gone, and back was the chirpy Mirajane everyone knew. She grinned widely at him, and with a small wink, she continued on to serve more alcohol or food. He shook his head, but the motion made him catch the sight of Kagome. She was on one of the tables with the other Strauss siblings and with Miroku and Shippo. While all of them seemed to be into whatever the small fox demon was saying, he could tell that Kagome was not fully into the conversation. The look in her eyes seemed distant, not focused on anything.

He was so focused on her he didn't hear whatever Inuyasha said, but that automatically had gotten him an angry sit from the woman who then started to laugh.

He bit back the grin that wanted to slip out. They would be alright.

He was going to make sure of it.

—-

She swallowed as the well came into view, her friends and the team that were going with her, walking behind her at a fair distance. She had told them she needed a minute to herself once they left the guild. No one had argued.

Saying goodbye to the others in the guild had been rough. There was no guarantee if she could ever come back to see them, so she decided to at least say her goodbyes if that was the case. All of them had very encouraging words for all of the group. All of them shared meaningful hugs and words with her. It was bittersweet.

The Thunder Legion had been the hardest. She got used to them during the three months. They had helped her when she was all alone. Treated her just as an equal. They became her friends so quickly. Evergreen had been clinging to her, the sob rocking through her body as all Bickslow could do was rub the woman's back as they said goodbye to their new friend. Freed had been a gentleman, like always, giving her a gentle hug.

However, seeing them saying goodbye to Laxus broke her. It was obvious the three of them were trying to be strong. She knew how much it had impacted them when Laxus had been kicked off the guild. Evergreen had said it was one of the saddest moments of her life.

And now here Laxus was, saying goodbye to his family because of her.

She gripped her fist tighter as they neared the well. She wasn't going to let that happen. She was going to make sure that all of them would be reunited.

One way or another.

Even if it broke her.

She stopped in front of the well, looking down at the dreadful water that had almost drowned her.

Juvia and the Master were the only ones that came with them. The Master knew better than to let Natsu come along, as the fire dragon would find any way to travel with them. Juvia was needed to remove the water from the well so they could all jump in.

The water mage stepped up, being next to Kagome as she looked down at the well.

"It is strange. Juvia feels a strange power coming from the well."

"It's probably from the magic that my brother is using to keep it open," Inuyasha said as he approached, arms crossed in front of his chest, "We need to get going."

Juvia immediately did what she needed, and controlled the water as it finally came out of the well in beautiful swirls of clear water.

"Kagome," Sango said loudly as she saw the other woman already putting a leg over the ledge, "Just so you know… things are not as you remember."

Kagome gripped the ledge tighter as she glared at the well, "I know. It's been a year there… and the power he's gained… I know."

She then turned to her partner through the whole thing, "I want to jump first. I want to see."

His golden eyes widened slightly, "I don't think—"

She ignored him and with a deep breath, she jumped in.

A bright blue light seemed to come out of the well, and when Laxus rushed over with Gajeel, Levy, Wendy, Carla, and Lily. Laxus' grey eyes were wide just to see that the well was empty.

"What the—"

"We need to go now. She's not going to react well to what she sees," Sango said rather alarmed as she scooped both Shippo and Kirara in her arms.

Inuyasha didn't wait for the rest as he jumped right after Kagome. Laxus bit back the growl that almost slipped out and had the others from the Feudal Era to jump first. After that, with one final look at his grandfather, he was the last one to jump in.

—-

She immediately could smell the familiar fresh air of the Feudal Era. She could see the blue sky as she quickly took a hold of the vine and started to pull herself up.

But there was a different smell in the air. Even she could catch it and she did not have the same capability of Inuyasha or any of the dragon slayers. She grunted as she finally pulled herself over and as she took a sight of what was in front, she felt _sick_.

Long gone were the tall trees and green grass that covered the area. In its place were burnt branches and plain dirty everywhere. She knew that some were not even branches on the floor, but skeletons that had been left to be exposed to the elements.

Her breathing became more labored as her eyes went into the direction of the familiar tree, the tree that had started _everything_.

 _It was barely standing_.

She didn't know she was moving as she moved in towards the direction of it. She could feel her chest getting tighter and tighter, her hands becoming sweaty as the anticipation of seeing it was crushing her.

It was no longer beautiful. It was ruined. No leaves left on its place. Various branches had been completely burned off while others went from a crisp black to a darker decaying brown.

But what caught her eyesight made her feel sick.

There was a stone like plaque, propped to be leaning against the base of the tree.

She was already crying because she could read it, even if it was dirty and covered in mud for being outside, she could see what it read.

She was on her knees in front of it in a blink of an eye. Her fingers cold like ice as the realization of the severity of the situation was increasing. The tears fell freely as with the tip of her fingers, she traced the name that was carved deeply onto the stone.

The old woman had helped her. Guided her. Trained her. And loved her deeply for who she was.

"Thanks to her more than half of the village evacuated," she heard his voice cutting through the emptiness in the air as she had been mourning silently, "By the time we reached the village, it was disintegrated. Rin still cries for her."

Kagome sniffed as she wiped the snot and the tears from her face. She turned around, her eyes bright as she struggled to keep more tears from falling.

He looked just the same, but there was something different. There was no fear as she looked at him— he didn't make her nervous how he used to.

His eyes weren't as cold.

That was the reason why he looked different to her.

She no longer feared him.

"Sesshomaru."


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Some action but nothing too too crazy... Haha. As always, I thank you guys for the support! Leave reviews !

Chapter 16: Back

He nodded as he heard her speak his name. It was so soft, so broken. He almost wanted to feel bad. Almost. The broken hearted look in her eyes, which he remembered always being lit by a fire of determination were now covered in sadness.

He was aware of what the old woman had done, as the old woman had told Rin several stories of Kagome's training as a priestess.

He had been rather disappointed to know that the young miko had gone missing. He had come to drop off Rin to the village, to have her interact more with humans as he was becoming more busy in the West with more meetings and patrols due to Naraku's rise of power. He had hoped that the woman would teach Rin more with reading and writing, because he was not blind. Even with the way she dressed, which was too provocatively in his opinion, the woman was very well educated. But she was suddenly gone and the old woman offered to take care of Rin when he would become too busy. With the rise of Naraku's power, the entire country was a mess. It had been Jaken the one to alert them of the attack. He had gone to get Rin as Sesshomaru finally caught a break with everything.

He had been speaking with his brother when it happened. By the time they reached the village, everything was gone and Rin was sobbing hysterically. The only thing she kept saying over and over was the old woman's name.

And now here stood the miko who could possibly end everything, in front of him a year later. Holding his gaze as her eyes kept shining. She _wanted_ to continue crying, but couldn't bring herself to do so in front of him.

It wasn't just that he noticed. Her aura was different. He could feel it more and he knew it was because she had her complete soul now. She probably didn't know it yet, but she was far more powerful than what she used to be.

He heard him coming right away and side stepped to avoid the angry claws of his half brother. He looked at him, with a bored look as his brother snarled at him.

"The hell did you do to her?"

He was in front of Kagome after sending one last dirty look to Sesshomaru, his golden eyes looking for signs of injuries as he looked at her. But as he looked at her, that's when he realized what was behind her.

She looked up at him, her eyes so wide and innocent as the tears flowed now that he was there. The blush deepened as the sadness overflowed from her. She was pouting as she was forcing back the sob again, her bottom lip trembling with such emotion as she asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Guilt hit him instantly.

"...It wasn't the right time yet."

Her voice cracked, "She's gone."

"I know… I'm sorry."

She let out an angry scream as she collapsed on her knees, Inuyasha catching her and holding her tightly as she mourned for Kaede. He knew where her anger was coming from and the sadness as well. He had felt the same way. He had been rude, an ass to the old woman in various occasions. But she had been family. She had guided him so many times and he could never repay her again. If it wasn't for the beads around his neck, he would have never gotten to know Kagome.

He owed her everything.

Kagome was still crying by the time the others reached them. Both Wendy and Levy had been pale. The amount of destruction of what clearly used to be a beautiful sight caught them off guard. They saw the burnt bones on the ground. Wendy could still smell the scent of death heavily in the area.

Not even the sound of the birds was heard.

When there was no signs of Kagome as they came out of the well, and Laxus caught her scent, Inuyasha had taken off immediately. That's when he caught the scent of someone else and he didn't like the urgency of Inuyasha's hasty departure.

Sango was the one that spoke up as she could feel the demonic aura, "Sesshomaru told us he would be in the area. He is with her right now is my guess."

Miroku turned to the direction of where the tall beautiful tree that used to overshadow all others, "That tree will forever hold a special place in her heart. It was the start of everything. Inuyasha only saw it fitting to place Kaede's plaque there."

Levy gasped, "Isn't she the one that helped Kagome when she first got here?"

Sango nodded, "We were too late. But a good amount of people did make it thanks to her."

Lily hopped on Gajeel's shoulder, "The situation is far worse than what I imagined."

Sango sighed as she started to lead them towards the Goshinboku, "The glory that Japan once held has been destroyed little by little this past year. Naraku has slaughtered any priestess or monk he could find. He's gained as much power as he could. And now with just missing one shard, I cannot imagine on what he's going to do."

Miroku helped Wendy over one of the fallen trees as they continued, "I do not exaggerate when I say Kagome is our last hope. She's the only one that will be able to purify him."

When they finally reached where Inuyasha and Kagome were, Laxus felt like he had been hit in the gut. He could smell her tears heavily in the air. Before he could even say or act on it, a voice broke in.

"You were supposed to get the girl yet you also bring back a pack of dragons, felines, and a human."

Gajeel and Laxus instantly glared at the other man. He was the same height as Laxus but not as built. Long silver hair adorned his head. A set of familiar golden eyes, slightly more narrowed, graced his face. He had a long pointy aristocratic nose with magenta markings on either side of his face and a crescent moon on his forehead. They could see pointy ears peeking through the silver hair as well. Adorned in a red, black, and white kimono with an armor anaced on his chesd two swords on his hip, they immediately recognized him from the descriptions of Kagome.

"Lord Sesshomaru," Miroku said politely, never forgetting the fact that Sesshomaru still rightfully ruled the West, "These are her friends. They helped her when she was in their world. They have offered their help to bring down Naraku."

Sesshomaru cocked an eyebrow as he looked at every single one. The two girls, the small one and the slightly taller one, seemed to be outright intimidated by his gaze. The two cats held his gaze and the two men were glaring at him.

"Even in other worlds it seems that dragons are temperamental."

Gajeel snapped, "I'll show you temperamental pretty boy."

Laxus placed an arm to stop Gajeel from launching, "Enough. We didn't come here to fight him. We came to find Naraku."

Sesshomaru turned to him, "You know of the half breed."

And for some unknown reason that she wasn't sure why, Wendy chimed in.

"Naraku went to our world. Laxus fought him."

Sesshomaru looked at her, making her blush at the intensity of his gaze, and then went back to look at the other man, but just as he was going to say something, Inuyasha commented.

"If you can even call it a fight. Couldn't get through the barrier."

Laxus' temper started to flare. Gajeel immediately felt the static in the air and he could only feel sorry for Inuyasha. Kagome was still red from the face from crying and smacked Inuyasha on the back of the head.

"Stop instigating. If you didn't have Tetsusaiga you would never be able to get through to him. Stop being an ass."

And because she had felt it too, she walked over to Laxus and placed a hand on his arm. Her fingers twitched as she could feel the electricity. He looked down at her, and seeing her tear streaked face is what snapped him out of frying Inuyasha.

Sesshomaru snorted, "You always tend to go with the most temperamental Miko."

She turned to him and snapped, "I kind of liked you more when you were a bigger ass. You're starting to sound like your brother."

Sesshomaru's smug look instantly disappeared as he was compared to his younger sibling. He glared at her.

"So what is the plan?" Carla asked quickly. If they kept this up they would never make it to the West.

His stoic face turned to the cat, "I was not expecting this big of a party to show. I would either have to send a message for us to be retrieved from this area or we would have to travel there. The kitsune and the fire cat can transform."

Lily raised his paw, "Me and Carla can fly too. We can carry our partners."

Sesshomaru thought of it, "Should be enough then."

Kagome cleared her throat, "I have to go home. At least to tell my mom that I'm alive and well."

"Fuck no. You just got back and now you want to leave? Don't you see what's around us? This is not even half of what he's done!"

"I've been gone for a _year_. She must be worried sick!"

"Next thing I know you're gonna tell me to stay for your stupid school! You're not going Kagome and that's fucking final."

As soon as he finished the sentence, he felt a fist on his cheek, filled with lightning, that sent him across from where they were standing. He landed on the ground harshly and he could feel his cheek stinging from the blow.

"I've had enough of your shit. She wants to go see her mom, she can. She's coming back. She's aware of the situation. But talk to her that way one more time like she's property and it'll be more than your cheek that I fry."

"You really want to do this right now dragon?" Inuyasha snapped as he jumped back to his feet and made his way over to Laxus. He grabbed Kagome by the arm and pushed her behind him. She couldn't even form the words. She turned to Gajeel for help, but him and Levy just shook their heads. Wendy grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"I think it's better they get this out of their systems now instead of in the battlefield."

Levy nodded, "I agree with Wendy. I don't want to see this either but it's true."

Kagome threw her hands above her head, "Well I'm not going to stand here and watch a testosterone fight! I'm going home!"

And without looking at them, she made her way over to the well. Shippo and Sango quickly went with her.

Laxus heard her loud and clear, and as much as he wanted to stop and go after her, he couldn't. He had heard enough of Inuyasha's side comments. And now he was prohibiting from seeing her own mother? That was the tip of the iceberg for him.

His magical aura flare to the challenge, lighting erupting and covering him from head to toe as he glared at Inuyasha. The half demon snarled and lunged, but Laxus wasn't there anymore. He had moved to his right and brought his knee to directly hit Inuyasha in the stomach, knocking the air out of him.

Gajeel yawned as he went to lean on a tree, "This is going to be over soon. Might as well take a nap until Kagome gets back."

Wendy found herself standing next to Sesshomaru, watching the fight with worry as she knew she was going to have to heal one of them, if not both. She had seen Inuyasha with his sword, but in a hand to hand combat, he lacked. She wasn't the greatest fighter, but she could even tell that Inuyasha acted first and then asked questions later. Reminded her a little too much of Natsu in that aspect.

"Lightning."

She turned to look up at the other man and nodded, "He's a lightning dragon slayer. Gajeel is an iron slayer."

With the slightest of movement he turned to look down at her, "You also smell of dragon."

She blushed, "I'm the sky dragon slayer. Wind and enhancement magic are my specialty."

He took in the information and went back to look at the brawl. The lightning covering the other man was gone, as this was now a fight of skills. Sesshomaru couldn't help but be slightly impressed. It was clear that the other man could finish the fight if he really wanted to. His movements were calculated. There was no impulsiveness like his sibling.

The more he watched, the more the curiosity was rising on what the others could do.

"Why are you here?"

Wendy sighed, "It didn't feel right letting her come back alone, specially with what happened. She needed help. She became part of our family."

He let out a slight noise through his nose but didn't say anything further. Maybe it wasn't an idiotic idea after all that they came along.

His castle had become a fortress. Women and children, human and demons, were residing there for shelter. He never once thought that he would be opening the doors of his home like that, but he couldn't allow more to die even if he didn't show it. He saw too many little girls dead that reminded him of Rin.

Besides, she was loving taking care of others.

Finally, the sound of lightning echoed loudly as Laxus put an end to the brawl. He was panting and he could feel his arm burning because Inuyasha had gotten a good swipe with his claws. He had to give it to him, he was strong, but it wasn't just about brutal strength. Wendy rushed quickly to Laxus, her hand glowing green as she healed his wounds. She knew Inuyasha would need help too, but Laxus was part of her guild.

Sesshomaru's eyes widened slightly to see the young girl possess healing powers as well. How could someone so small hold that kind of power? He was more curious now. With a side glance he looked at the other man who had a smirk on his face as the other small woman sat next to him with the black cat.

What else could they do?

Specially in a serious battle?

—

She had never been more angry as she continued fuming as she stomped to the well. With a frustrated sigh, she tried forgetting about the two men. She had a mission to do and that was making sure that the forsaken well would take her to _her_ time. She bid Shippo and Sango goodbye and said she would only be gone for a few hours.

"Please make sure they don't kill each other."

That was the last thing she had said before jumping in.

She prayed and prayed as she fell down the well that she would go back home as she felt herself being swallowed by the energy of the well. She had her eyes closed because she was afraid of the disappointment. As she finally gained the courage, she was relieved to see the roof of the well house over her. She saw the worn down wooden ladder and quickly climbed it. She was panting out of anticipation. She needed some sort of a fresh sight.

Seeing what the area had fallen into and seeing Kaede's plaque had worn her emotionally. She needed the comfort of her mother more than ever.

She wasn't sure what day it was as she ran across the stone like walkway, aiming for her house. She gripped the door handle and immediately she was hit with the warmth of her home and the smell of her mother cooking.

She didn't bother taking off her shoes, she just _ran_.

And there they were. Souta was talking to their grandfather. His voice was different. His height was different too. Her grandfather looked like he had aged.

They turned at the sound of feet running and both her grandpa and brother dropped their chopsticks. Her mom turned around and immediately dropped the plate she had.

She wasn't saying anything. She was just staring at her.

"Mama…" she whispered as her eyes again welled up in tears.

Her mother gasped as she moved around the table where her oldest daughter flung herself to her. Kagome welcomed the warmth of her mother, the security and tenderness, and just cried.

She cried because even if it had been three months for her, it had been a whole year for her mother, for her family. They didn't know if she was alive.

But now a year later here she stood, alive and _well._ Souta couldn't believe it either, but once the shock wore off from him, he was joining the reunion. Grandpa could only smile, his eyes watery, as he took the image of his daughter reunited with her children.

The few hours they spent together came and left. Kagome caught them up on everything that had been going on. About Earthland, about the wizards. She wasn't sure about mentioning Laxus, but next thing she knew, she was telling her family about him.

Mrs. Higurashi was barely containing the full on grin as Kagome spoke of this mystery man. Her eyes were _shining_.

And then there was a knock on the door which Souta went to answer to not interrupt his sister's conversation.

"Laxus is one of the strongest in the guild," she continued, "Although I understand there is someone that's stronger besides his grandfather—"

"Thanks for the reminder that I haven't beaten Gildarts on a fight."

She stopped with her mouth open. Shock and a blush spreading through her as she heard his voice from behind her. She slowly turned around, not once believing that he was _there._

 _In her living room._

Mrs. Higurashi's eyes widened, her hand going to her mouth, "Oh my…"

Kagome blinked twice, "How are you here?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "The well."

"The well?" She repeated, completely not believing the idea he jumped through the well and made it to her time.

However how else could he even be there?

He nodded slowly. Souta was staring at him wide eyed from behind him, "Are you stronger than Inuyasha?"

Laxus turned his head to him, "I just kicked his ass."

Kagome glared, now remembering why she had left so hastily, "You didn't have to do that."

Laxus rolled his eyes, "Kind of needed. He was starting to get impatient again and almost came to get you but I jumped in first."

She made a face, "Just _jumped_ in?"

"I just said that."

Mrs. Higurashi giggled, catching the attention of both Laxus and Kagome who were just inches apart as they had been arguing.

She went up to him, and after a long stare that Laxus held, she bowed.

"She told me everything you did. _Thank you."_

Kagome had never seen him stun in silence and blushing like _that_ before.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Allies

Kagome had to continue biting her lip from keeping from grinning like a mad fool at how uncomfortable Laxus had been. After hundreds of questions and comments, they finally left her house and made their way over to the well.

She had seen how people would look at him or how some would approach him. It was either out of fear or respect. Even admiration at times. The most popular look from people was fear. However, her entire family was smitten by him. She wasn't sure how or why, as the whole time, he couldn't form a sentence. He kept getting interrupted. Even her cat, who would run away at the sight of Inuyasha, kept rubbing herself on his leg.

But he was never once rude even with all the questions they kept throwing at him or comments. Even her grandfather offered him a drink for not "being a demon."

Apparently having the magic of a _dragon_ was normal to him.

Indeed, it had been interesting and it made her be less mad at him. She still wanted to yell at him but couldn't bring herself to do so because she was filled with happiness for seeing her family.

They had reached the bottom of the small well house when he stopped her.

"Are you still mad at me?"

And even though he seemed to look indifferent, with eyebrow raised and all as he looked down at her, she knew better. Deep in his gray eyes, she could see the slight hint of worry of asking the question. They had both learned that they did not do well if the other was upset or mad. Not because their fights were like the ones her and Inuyasha would have. Those always held a sense of immaturity. With Laxus was different that it seemed they always needed to reach the bottom of the issue before moving along. He was not the type to have the same thing resurface again.

She closed her eyes and sighed, and then she felt him putting a strand of her long hair behind her ear.

She spoke as he held her face, "I hate fighting, especially when it involves people I care about. I know how he is, but it wasn't necessary for you to do that."

His look was dry but his eyes held no meaning behind them as he replied, "Give me some credit. I've been wanting to do that since I met him."

She sighed again, "I know."

He furrowed his eyebrows at her tone.

"Was my timing horrible? Yes. You just lost someone that meant a lot to you. I should have at least waited until we left."

And she knew that was his way of apologizing. She knew he could say it if he wanted to, but she preferred it this way. She found herself wrapping her arms around his waist, while he enveloped her in his own. A trembling breath escaped her lips as she found herself settling against him. He held her as long as she needed, just showing her that he was there for her and wasn't planning on leaving.

They shared a soft kiss when they slightly separated, and soon after, they jumped down the well.

She wasn't surprised that everyone was there, waiting for them the moment she came out of the well. Shippo quickly jumped in her arms while Wendy hugged her around the waist after Laxus helped her up. She welcomed their warmth and smiled brightly at them.

As she felt Sesshomaru's demonic presence, she raised her head to look at him dead in the eye.

"I think it's time we leave."

It took a lot of deliberation, but they were able to figure out how to travel to the West. Shippo was to transform into his giant ball, which Kagome had yet to figure out what it was supposed to be even after all the years of knowing him. There, Kagome, Levy, and Laxus were on it. On Kirara, it was Miroku and Sango. Carla had Wendy while Lily carried Gajeel. Inuyasha had refused, opting out with running instead. Wendy wasn't sure if riding Shippo would give Laxus motion sickness, and to risk having Gajeel from seeing him that way, as she knew it would instantly become a fight between the two dragons, she quietly placed her spell on him just in case.

Kagome ended up falling asleep, as the emotional rollercoaster she went through finally caught up with her. Being back, knowing Kaede's death, and seeing her family. Too many emotions at once.

Her head was on his shoulder as he had her on his lap. Levy couldn't help it but let out giggles every now and then.

As he finally glared at her because he had enough of her soft giggles, she smiled.

"I never thought I would see this side of you. It fits you."

He didn't say anything as his eyes went to the woman in his arms. Yeah, he never thought he would live through this either.

Even with everything going on, they made it to the gates of Sesshomaru's palace with no incidents. Sango expressed her worry, as she would have expected some sort of attack as they had been a big party traveling. Nowadays it wasn't safe, not even for a merchant who's just passing by.

But nothing.

The dragon slayers could smell the scent of death whenever they would pass through any of the villages that were brought to ruins. The smell was nauseating, burnt flesh and wood swirling around in the air. Carla was trying her best for Wendy to not see any of it as she could hear the young girl sniff.

The damage was sickening. Inuyasha was glad that Kagome was asleep through the entire trip, as he wasn't sure how the young woman would react. If it were up to him, she would not see any of this. But they _needed_ her.

As the sun finally set and the full moon shone upon them, they reached the gates of Sesshomaru's palace . Kagome was awake now and through the huge wooden double doors, she could hear the murmur of other voices inside. The doors opened as Sesshomaru stepped forward, what she saw made her gasp.

There were dozens of tents throughout the entire courtyard. What it was obvious that it used to be a beautiful view with flowers and a pond, it was all covered by equipment, tents, and humans and demons alike. She could see children, both _human and demon_ , playing together. She could see women of both species helping one another with food and laundry. She could see soldiers of both species going over battle plans. She saw others tending to one another as some had terrible wounds.

To think someone as horrific as Naraku ended up bringing both demons and humans together. The irony.

The amount of injured soldiers was overwhelming to say the least. Some still had bloody bandages while other bodies were wrapped ready to be buried. Her throat felt hot as she saw some already with lost limbs. She could see small groups, either helping each other walk or giving each other water. Soldiers trying to take care of one another. It didn't matter what they were. They were brothers at this moment.

Laxus was trying to keep his face stoic, but even for him, it was difficult to do so. Compared to the battles Fairy Tail had faced in the past, that was nothing compared to this. This was a real war where hundreds have died already.

He felt her slip from his hand as she approached she a soldier that had a bandage around his head, covering one of his eyes. He was confused as she had just randomly appeared before him. Her hands glowed the vibrant pink as she helped him heal, the warmth spreading all over his injured eye. He gasped, and the other man that was with him was almost sobbing as he recognized her, as he had lived in Kaede's village.

"Sh-She is here!" He raised his voice, "LADY KAGOME IS HERE!"

It was like a buzzing sound as her name carried throughout the entire courtyard. Those that knew of her were cheering loudly, and those that had only heard stories of her could only stare in disbelief.

The man she was helping gripped her hands, as tears fell down his face.

"We are saved… we are finally saved…"

She smiled softly at him, "Get some rest. You deserve it."

More villagers and soldiers approached her in greeting. Kids that knew her were dragging along demon children, telling them that she was _kind_ and _knew a lot of games_.

Sango caught the looks of the Fiore group and she smiled.

"We knew she was alive somewhere. We were not going to let her spirit die so easily."

Sesshomaru snorted, "It was foolish to make them believe she would come back, as it was not set in stone."

Wendy turned back to look at Kagome as she responded, "Sometimes a little bit of hope is what's needed to survive."

Gajeel grunted, agreeing fully with the small slayer. He knew Kagome was special. She had a light about her. But seeing how miserable looks turned to looks of relief, happiness, and _hope_ , it was making him hyped up for the upcoming battle. She had raised the morale of an entire army just by smiling.

Laxus saw Wendy's hands twitching that he nudged her, "Go help her. Between the two of you a lot of them will feel better."

She smiled brightly at that, and with Carla on her shoulders, she went to where Kagome was as she had spotted a fox demon that was missing an arm.

The bleeding was profusely, as the wound was only a few hours old. Wendy's hands glowed green and with her magic combined with Kagome's purification energy, the wound was almost fully healed.

He stared at her in wonder, "A healing dragon?"

Wendy smiled at him. He was just a few years older than her, but he already had a strong jaw and eyes as bright as Shippo's, "I'm a dragon slayer. One of my skills is healing magic."

He looked at both of them and with a flash of determination in his emerald eyes, he got up. The two fretted over him, telling him to lay down and rest as he had lost a lot of blood, but the young demon wouldn't listen.

With the right arm, he placed his fist on his heart, got on one knee, and bowed.

"I will forever be in debt with you."

Wendy blushed and started to stutter at the display while Kagome smiled softly at him.

Before she could say something, a loud brash voice broke through the excitement and murmurs of all soldiers and villagers.

"I knew my nose wasn't tricking me!"

She barely had time to blink as she felt strong arms wrap around her waist and picking her up, twirling her around like a small child. She took notice of the pointy ears and the ponytail, that she laughed.

"Koga put me down!"

He finally did as he was told, setting her in front of him. His blue eyes were shining with excitement, a grin on his face as he looked down at her.

She grinned back at him, "Good to see you again!"

And unexpectedly, his eyes turned softer as his face turned more serious. He placed his hands on her shoulders and whispered to her.

"I wanted to keep believing that you were alive but—"

She interrupted him by giving him a hug. Regardless of the countless fights between him and Inuyasha, for all the times he embarrassed her for proclaiming his love to her, he was still someone very close to her. She was happy to see him alive, especially after knowing what happened to his tribe.

"It's okay. I'm here now and we are going to win this."

A snort was heard from the crowd, "Doubtful."

Her eyes turned to the voice, which turned out to be a tall handsome demon with tan skin and yellow eyes. He had pointy ears, short black hair, and a long black tail. A panther youkai.

Koga rolled his eyes as he pulled away from her, "Now what Kageharu?"

The man stepped forward, "You want us to believe that with just this _human_ we are going to win against Naraku? You said we would when Kikyo was here, and look how that turned out."

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed at the mention of the dead priestess while Miroku answered.

"We said there was a possibility. It was never a for sure thing as Lady Kikyo was not even alive or with her full soul."

The sneer on his face was more prominent, "And you want me to believe she can? Look at her, she's merely a mortal child!"

"Excuse me, I am not a child!"

He scoffed at her, "You are a child in my eyes."

And long and behold, it was Sesshomaru that spoke.

"This _child_ has the capability to incinerate every demon here. Careful with your words, as she could save your life in the battle field."

Kageharu snorted and walked away. Laxus took notice that a few others followed him as well. Something didn't settle well about them and knew that probably the best thing was to keep a closer eye on them.

Kagome saw Koga rolled his eyes, and as they made eye contact, back was the playful grin. However, his nose twitched and his eyes turned confused as he took a closer step.

"Why the fuck do you smell like a dragon?"

Kagome blushed, completely forgetting that she apparently now she carried Laxus' scent. Koga's eyes then followed the scent that was very similar to hers. The man was tall, muscular, blonde, with a lightning scar on his face. By his posture, he could tell was a fighter and without a doubt, reeked of dragon.

Kagome grew nervous as she saw them sizing each other up. He then turned back to look at her and shrugged his shoulders, "As long as it isn't dog shit."

She blinked three times at him, completely confused by his reaction. Inuyasha however, did voice his opinion on that.

"And as long as it isn't you mongrel!"

"What did you call me?!"

Laxus had a feeling if something wasn't done, the two canines would start fighting. As he was standing next to Sesshomaru, who seemed to be the only canine with his head on his shoulders, he spoke.

"We should probably go somewhere to talk."

After many others approaching Kagome and questioning who the humans and dragons were, they finally made it inside. Even then, it was still chaotic. Kagome took notice that inside, women that were pregnant and elderly were residing in it with younger children. This really took her by surprise, as she never thought Sesshomaru would go to such lengths. It just showed her how much he had changed under that cold demeanor.

Rin had been beyond ecstatic to see her again, giving her a full hug and saying over and over that she had missed her. After the child ran off to play with Shippo, they finally made it to Sesshomaru's office.

There were various scrolls and maps all over the table. Just by looking at the mess, she knew Sesshomaru had been fighting hard for the past year so the West wouldn't fall.

With a side glance at her, he pointed at the map, his claw tapping at a certain point.

"That is where he resides."

Levy moved closer to the table, "That is only 20 miles away from here."

Koga let out a growl, "We have only been able to get half way. It's only been a few times he's been on the field and Inuyasha destroyed the shield once, but he quickly fled after he impaled dog shit here," He ignored the growl coming from the dog demon as he continued, "It's always his reincarnations or those remaining from the Band of Seven on the field."

Sango shook her head, "The amount of demons he has under his disposal, it's unbelievable. Reminds me too much of Sounga's army."

Inuyasha crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall, "The issue is that Shinda keeps reviving his forces. That's why it always feels like we are starting at zero every single time."

"What does she look like?" Gajeel asked.

"Short black hair, black eyes, pale skin. Carries a staff with her. That's how she revives them."

Kagome turned to Inuyasha, "Even with the wind scar you can't get far enough?"

He sighed, "I can't use it much. I risk injuring our own."

Laxus had been staring at the map and taking note of the writing on it. Finally, he spoke.

"You've been doing it wrong."

Inuyasha glared as Koga looked curious, "What do you mean?"

"Few of us should be going first, front of the line. Take out as many of those demons with brutal force, you using your attack, before having the rest of the army join us."

"Brutal strength has always been my little brother's specialty."

Inuyasha answered by growling at his brother.

Laxus then looked at Kagome, "You're not joining us."

She was defensive in a second, "What?!"

"We need to focus on killing as many of them as we can. We can't be worrying about you. You will join the battlefield, but until we give you some sort of sign."

Sesshomaru pondered on the plan, "But if the miko is on the battlefield, it will drive the demons insane. They will be too focused on her to not anticipate our attacks."

Laxus' eyes flashed, "She's not going to be in the middle of it."

Miroku stared between the two men, "Laxus' plan could work."

Kagome crossed her arms, unhappy to know she wouldn't be in the first wave of attack.

"What if something happens to you?"

Laxus shrugged his shoulders, "Wendy will be there."

Gajeel grinned as he cracked his knuckles, "Gotta give us more credit than that Kags. You brought three dragon slayers with you. There's no magic council here to stop us from rampaging."

Levy took notice of Kagome's face, "It will be better, for now at least. If you are the key to end this, you must be at your greatest strength."

Lily hopped on Kagome's shoulder, "I will stay with her and fly her over when it is time."

Shippo then came in and heard Lily's comment. The young fox demon pouted and crossed his arms, "I can protect her!"

Lily looked at him, and in a puff of smoke, he was now standing behind Kagome in his battle form. Everyone that had never seen him like that before did a double take, except of course Sesshomaru who looked indifferent. Inuyasha couldn't help but gawk at him. He had not expected that from the tiny fur ball with a deep voice.

Shippo found himself stuttering as he looked at Lily wide eyed, "I-I t-think yo-u g-got it!"

Sesshomaru looked at the map and then at everyone in the room.

"The plan is set then."

* * *

She bit her tongue to the point that she could taste the metallic taste of her own blood. She could barely see, her right eye blurry while her left was swollen shut. The soreness she could feel throughout her body was throbbing. She knew she had a broken rib, or more. She wasn't sure anymore. Her right arm had multiple cuts and her bare back was burning and wet.

Wet from her own blood.

She coughed, blood flying everywhere as her coughs turned to heavy heavings.

She _hated_ him.

She knew it had been risky letting that blue cat take the last jewel, but that was practically the last hope for Naraku to not win. She knew that would never make up for her sins, as she had committed too many and she knew her days were numbered.

However, she would make sure that Naraku would come down with her.

So she had done it, she had let the blue cat take the last piece of the jewel. She played it off well, that she had not realized that it had taken the last piece of the jewel. She had foolishly hoped that he would not punish her.

But he wasn't a fool.

The punishment had been instant once they got back to their world and she stepped foot back inside the castle walls. He had first crushed the hand that she would use her fan with and knocked her out cold. She came back to screaming as the whip had slashed her on her bare back.

He did it for hours.

As she could barely move on the cold stone floor in the cellar where she laid, she smiled.

 _This is your end Naraku._


End file.
